Union Co. school board member Marce Savage resigns

A Union County school board member, who faced allegations by other board members of “theft of taxpayer money” over her expenses, has resigned.

Marce Savage’s resignation was announced by board Chair John Collins near the end of a board meeting that lasted several hours Tuesday night.

Collins said he met with Savage on Friday. At that meeting, she turned in her notice that she was resigning as of the next day and asked that Collins publicly disclose her decision at the Tuesday meeting.

Wednesday morning, Savage referred requests for comment to her attorney, David Manzi. He said she “made a decision that was in her best interest.”

Savage had previously complained about the school district releasing personal data of hers publicly, including her Social Security number. Officials had apologized for that inadvertent release. Manzi said Savage is “pursuing all legal remedies” regarding that breach.

In November, the board said it found 29 problems with expenses for Savage, who was also on the State Board of Education, that allegedly included: seeking double or triple mileage reimbursement for one event; submitting mileage reimbursement to both boards for attending the same event; or seeking reimbursement for an event she apparently did not attend.

The Union board cited problems between May 2013 and October 2014, with the state expenses at issue totaling $2,037, and local expenses an additional $609.

In early November, Savage apologized to the local board for submitting mileage to both boards for attending the same meeting in September, which she called an honest mistake. Savage later resigned from the state board.

Despite the concerns swirling around her, Savage won re-election this fall to another four-year term.

In a November interview with the Observer, Savage denied she did anything wrong. Also in November, the local board voted to censure her and referred its probe of her expenses to the county sheriff’s office.

The school board will take applications until Feb. 13 to appoint someone to fill Savage’s seat until the next school board election in November 2016, where candidates would seek to fill the remainder of her term.

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Union Co. school board member Marce Savage resigns."