Delta board of education trustee Simon Truelove won't be seeking re-election in this November's civic election.
First elected to the board in 2005, Truelove, 64, made the announcement Tuesday, saying it has been his privilege to be part a district where people work so well together.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the performance of the provincial government, he said.
"My nine years have seen continual squeezing of our funding, downloading of costs and denial of responsibility for cuts by government. Trustees are supposed to be able to ensure the 'public' part of public education through a co-governance relationship with the Ministry of Education," Truelove said.
"We are the only body specifically elected by local voters with responsibility for public schools, but if we speak out about government actions we risk having our district 'punished' by the allocation of scarce resources to other districts," he added.
The recent school strike and lockout is just another indication how badly the system is broken, according to Truelove.
"Since June, school boards had been calling for the schools to be re-opened, but our input was effectively silenced. The only winners were the private schools. To say the least, it has been frustrating," he said.
Truelove reiterated that decisions made locally are usually best and school boards need more latitude in how schools are run and in how they are financed.