After eight years as principal at George Mason High School in Falls Church, Tyrone Q. Byrd today announced that he has offered his resignation effective June 30. “Today I write to you to say that my time as a proud member of the Mustang Nation has come to an end,” he wrote in a letter circulated via email today. “I have resigned my position as principal to accept the opportunity to serve as Director of Secondary Education for the Arlington Public School System.”

The announcement, coming one week after the Falls Church City Council voted to cut almost $1 million from the School Board’s funding request for the coming fiscal year, was ironic in the sense that the School Board’s budget was aimed at stemming flight of the best teachers in the Falls Church system to what the F.C. School Board reports is a better-paying Arlington County school system next door. In his letter, Byrd made no mention of the Falls Church budget or anything about the relationship between the Falls Church and Arlington systems.

In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I need to take this opportunity to thank our superintendent, her staff, and our school board. Their task is at times impossible and often thankless. I thank them individually and collectively for their commitment to serving the needs of our educators so that they can in turn provide our children with engaging, challenging and relevant learning experiences in safe and nurturing environments. You have provided us with the tools of tomorrow and the thoughtful guidance we need to continually improve our capacity to serve as effective educators.”