BALTIMORE — After nearly eight years as Maryland’s state director of pupil transportation, Leon Langley is going back to the local level.

Langley has been hired as assistant director of transportation for the state’s largest school district: Montgomery County Public Schools.

The move means that Langley, no longer a state director after July 31, will resign his post as president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS). President-Elect Diana Hollander, the state director in Nevada, will take over the presidency on Aug. 1.

Langley cited personal and professional reasons for the career shift. He told SBF that leaving NASDPTS and his term as president is “a tough one — I’m sorry to give that up. But I know in my heart that this is the best decision.”

At Montgomery County Public Schools, Langley will report to Director of Transportation Todd Watkins. The district operates one of the biggest publicly owned school bus fleets in the nation, with about 1,200 yellow buses transporting more than 100,000 students daily.

Before Langley became Maryland’s state director in December 2008, he was the director of transportation and athletics for Calvert County (Md.) Public Schools. He had worked for that district for more than 30 years in various roles, including school principal and teacher.