AUGUSTA — The longtime business manager of the Augusta Public Schools has stepped down just as the district prepares to create next year’s budget.

It is unclear why Kathy Casparius is leaving the district she has worked at since the late 1970s.

She submitted notice of her departure, effective immediately, on Jan. 26. The Board of Education has not formally accepted Casparius’ resignation but is expected to do so at its Feb. 8 meeting.

District officials initially declined to provide a copy of her resignation letter, citing it as a confidential aspect of her employee record. When the Kennebec Journal replied that state law does not indicate that resignation letters are protected from public access and asked for confidential personnel details to be redacted, the district agreed to send the document Tuesday afternoon. The Kennebec Journal received the record Wednesday afternoon.

“Effective immediately, I am no longer employed by the Augusta School Department. … Best of luck to you all,” Casparius wrote in the letter, which also contains at least two typed lines of redacted text.

Casparius’ salary was $101,612, and she will not be paid past her resignation date, according to Amanda Olson, chair of the Board of Education. Per her contract, if termination or resignation occurs prior to the end of the contract, contractual obligations, including payment of salary, are only valid through the date of resignation.

Augusta Public Schools does not have a replacement for Casparius heading into the budget season, a lengthy process that officially started during a workshop meeting Monday night. The process usually runs from late January until finalization in May and a vote by city residents in June.

Olson said the search for an interim replacement will start “as soon as possible,” but a permanent replacement for Casparius will “take more time” to be completed.

“A replacement has not yet been secured however the district is working to hire someone on an interim basis until a search for a permanent replacement can be completed,” said Olson.