Blue and yellow balloons bobbed above gaily decorated tables as
more than 100 Morgan Hill Unified School District employees
gathered in the Community and Cultural Center to pay tribute to 29
retiring district employees.
Morgan Hill – Blue and yellow balloons bobbed above gaily decorated tables as more than 100 Morgan Hill Unified School District employees gathered in the Community and Cultural Center to pay tribute to 29 retiring district employees.
Between them, the employees have 721 years with the district, experience that will be difficult to replace, district officials said.
Seven classified workers and 22 teachers and administrators are taking advantage of retirement incentives offered this year, according to MHUSD Assistant Superintendent Jay Totter.
Karen Nelson, who is retiring from Paradise Valley Elementary School, has been with the district for 36 years. Hope Nunez, retiring from Los Paseos Elementary School, has been teaching first and second grade in the district for 35 years.
Nancy Siverson and Jim Mendez are retiring after 33 years in the district.
Four retirees were with the district for 32 years, including Rhoda Wolfskehl, Carmen Villegas, C. William Klipstine and Carol Ferri.
Jane Flanigan and Donna Cowan are retiring after 30 years with the district.
Three administrators are retiring, including Sobrato High School Principal Rich Knapp, Jackson Elementary School Principal Karen Tavares and Wolfskehl, who has served as principal at Martin Murphy Middle School, El Toro Elementary School and Encinal Elementary School and is currently Los Paseos Elementary School principal.
MHUSD School Board President Peter Mandel said those retiring “have touched hundreds and hundreds of lives, you’ve made richer their educational experiences, you have made them more ready to face the future.”
Mandel and Superintendent Alan Nishino told employees and those gathered to celebrate their careers that their efforts for the district were appreciated by the community.
Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Donna Foster said for retirees who had experienced so many first days of school, now they must be savoring the “lasts, the last field trip to Happy Hollow, the last prom.”
Service Employees International Union Chair Pam Torrisi said the retiring employees were dedicated and worked hard for the district.
“People who stay long enough to retire, it’s a choice of service to the district,” she said.
