DuPuy, 57, told fellow administrators he planned to step down from the board early in the summer after his third child graduated from Waco High School, but new members were elected from the board in the spring and the retirement in July of director Allen Sykes caused him to delay this decision.

He is leaving with two years remaining in his fourth term on the board. Board chair Angela Sykes said the board will decide at its December 16 meeting how to proceed with the empty seat.

Board members can leave the seat vacant until the spring council elections and allow voters to decide the general seat or choose someone to fill the unexpired term. In August, trustees chose Emily Iazzetti to occupy the District 5 seat in Sykes until the May election.

DuPuy, owner of DuPuy Oxygen & Supply Co., thanked his colleagues, district administrators and teachers with whom he had worked during his 10 years as an administrator.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people who work in the district and do hard work under difficult circumstances with flair and style,” he said.

DuPuy was first elected to his extraordinary seat in 2011, succeeding David Schleicher, and was re-elected in 2017 and 2020. During his tenure, the WISD Board of Directors worked with three superintendents; given the creation of the Transformation Waco neighborhood charter system; created and adopted a $ 355 million bond package, the largest in the district; and struggling with an almost two-year hiatus in education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.