La Jolla

Timothy Burns, longtime headmaster at La Jolla Country Day School, on Thursday told the faculty that he plans to resign to return to the Los Angeles area and pursue other career opportunities.

As director of the private school for almost 10 years, Burns’ tenure was perhaps best known for his decisions earlier this year that led to an arrangement in which Sharon Rogers ended her relationship as a fourth-grade teacher at the school.

The wife of Navy Capt. Will Rogers III, Sharon Rogers and the school reached a mutual agreement in which she was paid to leave the school because of concerns about safety on the campus. In March, she was the target of a bombing while driving her van to school.

Mark Saxon, president of the school’s board of trustees, said the departure was not related to criticism of Burns for his handling of the Rogers affair. Instead, Saxon said, Burns wants to rejoin his family in Pasadena and consider new career objectives.

Burns could not be reached for comment Thursday about his resignation, which takes effect at the end of the current school year. But, in a letter Thursday to the board president, he said “the time is simply good for me to explore new and different challenges.”