SELBYVILLE — The Indian River Board of Education voted Monday to end its membership in the Delaware School Boards Association for the 2015-2016 school year.

The board voted unanimously against paying its annual DSBA dues of $13,325, which is an amount based on total district enrollment.

Indian River had been a DSBA member for more than 30 years. During that time, several board members served on the DSBA Board of Directors and Legislative Committee.

“The decision to leave DSBA was a very difficult one,” Indian River Board of Education President James Hudson said.

“However, we believe DSBA no longer has the capacity to represent our interests statewide and in the Delaware legislature.

“The board believes funding allocated for our DSBA dues would be better spent elsewhere.”

The stated purpose of DSBA is to encourage and foster equity of thought and action of Delaware school boards and to further educational interests in the state.

The DSBA Legislative Committee also annually reviews bills pertaining to education and offers its opinion to state legislators.

“The board came to the conclusion that its DSBA membership was no longer productive and that continuing to pay thousands of dollars in dues to the organization was not a responsible use of taxpayers’ money,” Hudson added.