More Than Two Dozen Retire from School District

On June 14, the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education honored the 27 retirees—a mix of educators and administrators—who are leaving the district after the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

The names of all retirees were read, and those present received personal testimonials from a colleague. The district also held a "goodbye" reception before the Board of Education meeting in the faculty dining room.

School district Communications Director Judith Levy noted that there were twice as many retirees this year as last.

Some might speculate that Gov. Chris Christie's proposal this spring to cut pensions and benefits for veteran public school teachers hastened the decision for some, though Christie backed off the proposal just last week. According to the Star-Ledger, 99 of the South Orange Maplewood School District's 606 teachers (or 16.3%) were eligible for retirement this year.

Patch caught up with a few of the district's retirees to find out what their future plans are.

Carol Hackett, secretary to district Superintendent Brian Osborne, is retiring after 19-1/2 years in the district. Hackett started as a secretary to business administrator Richard Rosenberg. After 11 years, Rosenberg left for the state Department of Education and Hackett became secretary to James Corino, assistant superintendent for administration, and then for in-house counsel Ellen Bass, before becoming Dr. Horachak's secretary five years ago.

Now, Hackett is looking forwarding to helping out her daughter who has 19-month-old twins, Liam and Caroline. "We live just two miles apart!" said Hackett.

Later Osborne told the assembled audience at the Board of Education meeting that he was in "deep denial" over Hackett's retirement. "She is a brilliant district leader," said Osborne. "She's treated everyone with dignity and respect no matter how upset they are." Citing her only flaw as her Red Sox allegiance, Osborne added, "Carol made this crazy job doable over the last three years."

Chandar Parkash Gulati (whose first two names mean "moon" and "light") is leaving after 18 years in the district. Gulati has taught advanced mathematics at Columbia High School, introducing two new courses during his tenure—Calculus of Several Variables and Differential Equations. He noted that both are sophomore level college courses.

Gulati and his wife Padma look forward to traveling, first to Brazil where Gulati taught for several years, then on to India and Europe (his son is moving to London).

Often compared to the outstanding educator portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the movie "Stand and Deliver," Gulati received a large ovation at the Board of Education meeting where he was lauded for "equally effectively teaching students who struggle with math and students who love it."

Barbara Allen, secretary to Clinton School Principal Patricia O'Neill, is leaving after 27 years in the district—with 20 of those years at Clinton School. Allen is clearly beloved by the Clinton community as demonstrated by the fact that the Clinton School PTA bought 5oo roses so that each student could cross the auditorium stage at the school on Monday and hand Allen a rose.

"I love Clinton School," said Allen. "They're going to miss me and I'm going to miss them." Allen said she cried at a retirement party on Friday night, but "today—only smiles."

Allen is not only beloved but admired. She worked to earn a degree at Montclair State University while working in the district and raising her own two children. Her daughter is now a medical doctor and her son works for the Miami Dolphins. Each of her children has a set of twins, and Allen and her husband look forward to traveling to Florida and Georgia to visit their grandchildren. "Grandma loves to travel!" said Allen.

O'Neill called Allen "my rock, my go-to person," and added, "I'm so happy for her, but I'm so sad for us."

Other notable retirees included paraprofessional Dianne Brown, who was acknowledged by Jefferson Principal Susan Grierson for her 21 years at Marshall, Clinton, Jefferson and Tuscan schools. "There's always a smile on her face," said Grierson.

O'Neill again took the podium to bid farewell to second-grade teacher Bernice Hall, but happily announced that Hall will be working as a subsitute teacher for the district in her retirement.

Business administrator Jim Memoli wrote a poem to honor teacher Elaine Ionetti (rhymes with "confetti") who arrived in the district the same year as he did, 39 years ago.

And Rosetta Wilson expressed the feelings of many in saluting Nicholas Santoro, who is leaving after 37 years of service. "Under his leadership our fine arts program has grown by leaps and bounds," said Wilson, who noted that Santoro was key in making Columbia a statewide leader in high school arts curriculum.

The full list of retirees includes Brenda Allen, Kathleen Anderson, Carolyn Banks, Dianne Brown, Solmaz Calone, Mary Carroll, Elizabeth Cicenia, Ira Cohen, Anne Cosmas, Claire Gaeckle, Janet Gnutti, Chandar Gulati, Carol Hackett, Bernice Hall, JoAnne Hawks, Elaine Ianetti, Antonia Kent, Mary Khan, Dianne Kropp, Mary Lauer, Barbara Liguori, Rita Marcus, Mirium Mustapha, Nicholas Santoro, Alice Solomon, Carolyn Stickle and Judith Symonds.