photo by: Contributed

Monte Westfall

The leader of the Lawrence school district’s virtual school will leave his position at the end of the month, the district announced Thursday.

Monte Westfall, the district’s director of virtual education and the Lawrence Virtual School, is resigning “to pursue other professional opportunities,” according to a news release from the district. His resignation will be effective June 30, pending school board approval.

Westfall has led the virtual school for three years as director and previously served five years as assistant principal. He said he appreciated the opportunity to serve the district over the past several years.

“I have loved my time with an amazing office and teaching staff. I will miss them greatly,” Westfall said in the release. “There are other opportunities on my horizon that I will enjoy exploring.”

Before joining the school district, Westfall served five years as a performing arts coordinator and resource specialist in the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission school districts in Johnson County. He also worked for four years with the band programs in the Shawnee Mission district, Kansas City, Kan., and Coppell, Texas.

How the district will fill the open position is not yet clear. The district said in the news release that it was late in the typical hiring season for such positions, and that Superintendent Anthony Lewis would work with the district’s executive leadership team to evaluate how to fill it.

The Lawrence Virtual School was launched in 2004 and currently serves 1,139 students in grades K-12 from across the state.