Glen Morgan resigns from Rochester School Board, leaving vacancy

Glen Morgan has resigned his seat on the Rochester School Board, and applications are being accepted for his vacant District No. 4 position.

The seat represents the eastern portion of the district and expires in November. Morgan was elected to the board in 2011, and re-elected in 2015.

“Mainly, I had accomplished some primary objectives I had for the Rochester School District while I was there, and I felt that I could open that seat up for someone else to step in and be involved,” Morgan told The Olympian.

He said he leaves with much admiration for superintendent Kim Fry and the remaining members of the School Board, which lead the nearly 2,200-student district.

Morgan is heavily involved in land use rights, and is a former staffer of the Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. He was recently named in a lawsuit over a series of robocalls that his political groups, Friends of Jimmy and We Want to Be Friends of Jimmy, Too, sponsored against Olympia City Council member Jim Cooper during Cooper’s unsuccessful bid for Thurston County Commissioner.

Morgan, who received a death threat over the robocalls, said he expects more litigation connected to his political activism.

“I don’t mind the chaos,” he said. “But there is no reason to have it impact the school district as well.”

During his tenure on the board, Morgan has tackled several key issues, including increasing the number of Rochester students who pursue entrance to four-year colleges, expanding science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes and highly capable programs, and advocating for fiscal transparency, Fry said.

“His energy and expertise will be missed,” she said.

The Rochester School District is accepting letters of interest for the position through Feb. 8. The School Board will make an appointment from the pool of candidates. For more information, call 360-273-9242.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Glen Morgan resigns from Rochester School Board, leaving vacancy."