Brain Drain: School Board Retires 36 (and 745 Years of Experience)

It was a driveway encounter: Michele Crosby was picking up her newspaper in her driveway of her Woodhaven home six years ago. So was Harriett Holiday, across the street. The two had never met. But they knew of each other from the time they’d worked in education in Tallahassee, and had been repeatedly told to meet up.

In June 2004 Holiday was the principal at Indian Trails Middle School. Crosby was an assistant principal at Ormond Middle School. Crosby introduced herself, the two talked, enthusiastically at that, Holiday said she was looking for an assistant principal. Two weeks later, Crosby was the assistant principal at Indian Trails, where she soon became principal when Holiday became the district’s director of human resources. “That was the best selection that ever could have happened at Indian Trails,” Holiday said. “She’s done a magnificent job.”

She’s also done: Tuesday afternoon, Crosby was among the 36 school district employees recognized one final time for their service before their retirement. The combined years of experience they take with them, out of the district: 745.

“I look down this row, and many of you had my own children,” Janet Valentine, the district’s superintendent, told the group, many of whom she’s worked with over the years. “I feel like I should be standing up here with you. But I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the hard work you’ve done, and I know we’ll be seeing you guys in the schools giving of your talents to some of our kids in the future.”

Holiday called for a moment of silence to recognize two teachers who died during the school year–Thomas Hickey, who died on Nov. 9 of cancer, and Kendra Newman, a teacher at Belle Terre Elementary who died Sunday from an illness. “To me, she was always a teacher of the year,” Stewart Maxcy, principal at Wadsworth Elementary, said two hours after the ceremony, when he recognized Newman’s service and what she meant to her school before the school board. Maxcy described Newman as a teacher who, despite battling her illness for the last couple of years and having to make numerous trips to the hospital, was immediately back in her classroom the moment she’d be discharged.

The send-off ceremony of hors-d’oeuvres, gifts, brief speeches and numerous hugs took place in the meeting chambers of the Government Services Building, where the school district has its offices.

Flagler County Schools: Those Who retired in 2010

Name	Title	Total Years of Service (in Flagler and Elsewhere)
Joseph Astuto	Transportation Supervisor	17
Mary Beale	English Teacher, FPC	37
Margaret Bean	Teacher at Old Kings	26
George Bradley	Maintenance Worker	13
Ashley Camp	Social Studies Teacher, Belle Terre	28
Ruth Carpanzano	Food Service Worker, Belle Terre	7
Monica Ciesla	Elementary Teacher, Wadsworth	32
Susan Coe	Executive Secretary, Risk Management	25
Michele Crosby	Principal, Indian Trails	40
Lida DiFrancesco	Elementary Teacher, Old Kings	30
Bernadette Dubreuil	Food Service Worker	14
Rebecca Dunn	School Secretary, Old Kings	30
Carmeline Fasciaba-Gross	Speech Teacher, Matanzas	8
Joan Galt	Media Specialist, Belle Terre	28
Ada Harvey	Science Teacher, FPC	20
Thomas Hickey (*)	Teacher, Indian Trails	32
Barbara Hodges	Community Education Teacher, Adult Education	6
Tina Hoffman	ESE Teacher, Bunnell Elementary	7
Gerald Honigman	Science Teacher, Indian Trails	24
Beverly Jacobs	ESE Teacher, Belle Terre	26
Hanneke Jevons	Art Teacher, FPC	38
Leland Kennedy	Social Studies Teacher, Buddy Taylor	12
Paula Lanigan	Elementary Teacher, Bunnell Elementary	19
David Lawler	Maintenance Worker	6
Myra Middleton	Director, Exceptional Student Education	37
Linda Millican	Elementary Teacher, Wadsworth	31
Carol O'Malley	Guidance Clerk, Rymfire Elementary	1
Charles Pinkston	Bus Driver, Transportation	3
Kathy Sabbatino	Registrar, Belle Terre	6
Richard Shelley	ESE Teacher, Matanzas	2
Everett St. Francis	English Teacher, FPC	41
Bonnie Tink	Elementary Teacher, Wadsworth	41
Maria Torres	Food Service Worker, Belle Terre	10
Della Sue White	Secretary, Pathways	15
Frederick Willis	Social Studies Teacher, FPC	42
Douglas Wilson	Maintenance Worker, Maintenance	13

(*) Deceased.

Source: Flagler County Schools