The Demopolis Board of Education accepted the retirement of Kent Simmons at a special called meeting yesterday morning.

Simmons, a Westside Elementary custodian, was a 25 year employee of the system.

His retirement is effective immediately with the remainder of the month being a holiday.

Demopolis superintendent of eduction Dr. Al Griffin said he was not sure that the system would seek the replace the position as it looked at ways to cut expenses ahead of what is expected to be a significant proration year in 2012.

“I need to get with (CFO Linda Agee) and see if there’s an opportunity to save those dollars,” Griffin said. “With what we know is coming in 2012 (proration), it’s a good idea to save what we can.”