Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale School District Superintendent Announces His Resignation : Education: Forrest McElroy has held the post since 1981. He will continue to serve as a consultant.

Longtime Palmdale School District Supt. Forrest McElroy will resign his post at the end of the year.

McElroy’s resignation was announced at the close of the district’s board meeting Tuesday night. A teary-eyed board president, Velma Trosin, read the superintendent’s one-page resignation letter to those at the meeting.

“Velma could hardly read the letter,” said Mimi Swift, McElroy’s secretary. “The entire board was overcome. It was hard for Forrest too.”

The board appointed Nancy Smith, who has served as assistant superintendent of business services since June 1, 1990, as McElroy’s replacement. She was appointed to a two-year contract beginning Jan. 1.

“I think she’s a very, very capable lady,” McElroy said of his replacement. “She understands this district and will be able to continue the programs that are in place.”

McElroy started his 32-year career with the district as a teacher, moving up the ranks to principal and then finally into the district office.

When McElroy was named superintendent in 1981 there were just 3,000 students in the Palmdale School District. Today there are nearly 16,500 students.

McElroy, who last year made an unsuccessful bid for a state Assembly seat, has talked about retiring for some time.

“I’ve been working toward finalizing the time for retirement for the last year or so,” he said Wednesday. As for his decision to do it at the end of the year, he said, “It just seemed like a good time to move on to another stage in my career. It was the right time for me.”

His retirement, McElroy said, will allow him to spend more time with his family and also be more involved in a farm in which he has interest in Oklahoma, his home state.

But the superintendent will also continue to work with the district. His contract allows him to work as a district consultant 75 days each year for five years.

Seeing the Palmdale School District through its drive to expand from a K-8 district to one that oversees K-12 education will be an important focus of McElroy’s consulting work. The superintendent has long supported the expansion, formally known as unification.

“I think,” he said, “I can be of more service to the district this way.”