The Campbell Reporter
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Recent Retiree: Caroline Hastings retired from her post as administrative assistant to the superintendent at the end of December after working for the Moreland School District for 25 years.
Hastings' time with district wasn't hasty
By Lisa Sibley
Caroline Hastings remembers the diabolic duplicating days before the copy machine was invented. Carbons and onion skin paper, mimeograph and ditto machines were the tools of her trade as administrative assistant to the Moreland School District superintendent.
There were frustrating times when her boss would keep making changes to a memo.
"It was an all-day project for one letter," she recalled.
Computers, word processors, electric hole-punchers and staple collators were a few technological advancements that made her days easier over the years.
Those days are now filled with plans to sleep in, travel and spend more time with her family. Hastings officially retired from her post at the end of December after spending more than 50 years in education and private industry, 25 years of which were at Moreland.
"I'd been thinking about it for awhile, and one day I woke up and thought, 'I don't want to do this anymore,'" she said.
A retirement celebration and dinner in her honor was held Feb. 1 at Maggiano's Little Italy at Santana Row. Hastings has been described by colleagues and community members as an anchor for the school district, a scribe of the district's history and a friendly voice on the other end of the phone.
"I'm going to miss Caroline," said Moreland's Superintendent Glen Ishiwata. "She has been a wonderful support for me as I made the transition into Moreland School District. She has so much information and history--25 years worth--that is not recorded anywhere else.
"The thing I'll remember most is that she may not tell a person that he or she is wrong or making a bad decision; she just raises her eyebrows, and you know you had better reconsider the idea you just bounced off her."
Ishiwata is the most recent of four Moreland superintendents for whom Hastings has worked; the others were Les Adelson, Jim Ritchie and Robert Resner.
Moreland's director of auxiliary programs Cleo Osborn has worked with Hastings for most of those 25 years. The teacher and administrator described Hastings as always laughing with a smile on her face, and also reliable and knowledgeable.
"She's the backbone of the district office," Osborn said.
Hastings' replacement, who started Jan. 16, also has roots in the Moreland community. Christine Thorpe, the new office manager for the superintendent's office, is a West San Jose resident. Thorpe has two children who attend Country Lane Elementary School, one child at Moreland Middle School and a freshman at Archbishop Mitty High School, who is a graduate of the Moreland district.
However, Hastings' shoes will be hard to fill. She started out volunteering in the Campbell Union School District classrooms as her children were growing up. Her husband, Jim, is also a retired administrator from the Oak Grove School District. The couple has lived in Campbell for 31 years and before that in West San Jose. They have grown twin daughters, a son and 12 grandchildren.
Hastings' volunteering led to a job as an instructional aide at Lynhaven Elementary School. Her instructional aide position was the start of a long, dedicated career in the field of education. She has seen how each superintendent she's worked for and staff members have developed new philosophies and approaches to education.
She's seen how state and federal intervention have taken away local control in public education, and how the No Child Left Behind Act, a five-year-old landmark education reform law, has left teachers and administrators overburdened with paperwork. She's also an advocate for spending more money on special education programs. Even though she's retiring, Hastings said she plans to stay current on education topics.
"It's just a part of your life after all of these years," she said. "It becomes part of you."
Hastings' tasks ranged from interacting with parents and community members to taking school board meeting minutes using shorthand, another lost art that Hastings said was replaced by technology.
"I didn't have much contact with the students, unless they were in trouble," she said.
Her position also included organizing meeting agendas, conferences and leadership retreats and, of course, maintaining the superintendent's schedule. She also had to be well-versed on California Education Code and the district's policies.
"Each superintendent has his own idea of the responsibilities they want you to have," she said.
Hastings added that she believes the current school board is in good hands, after incumbents Karen Whipple, Heather Sutton and Lori Booroojian were re-elected in November.
"I think the community chose wisely to have that continuation of leadership," she said. "They are all very responsible, and they have a great deal of integrity. The children's interests come first with them."
Despite the occasional irate parent venting to her over the phone, Hastings said her position was rewarding.
During her career, the Association of California School Administrators honored Hastings' years of service as an ACSA board member from 1988 to 1991 and as ACSA Region 8 president.
In 1990, she received the Doctor Leland Stier Service Award. In 1989, she was recognized for her outstanding service as the president of ACSA Region VIII, and in 1991 for her service as a member of the ACSA board of directors. She has also more recently been invited to be a member of Moreland's retired teachers association.
Phil Quon, the Cupertino Union School District superintendent and former Union School District superintendent, has worked with Hastings whenever the districts had issues in common.
"I always ended up talking to Caroline because she was the one who answered the phone," Quon said. "She was a constant professional, always willing to help. She was a wealth of information."
Quon described Hastings as always having a very firm command of the district office, but at the same time was gracious and went out of her way to make him feel comfortable.
"It's pretty hectic and sometimes non-rewarding, but Caroline had the right attitude and demeanor for the job," he said.
Denise Clay, Moreland's assistant superintendent of human resources, said Hastings is helping with the transition of her replacement and maintains a high level of commitment to the district.
"I've already called her a few times at home," Clay said.
"Caroline could keep us tied with our past so we remembered the foundational elements of what has helped to keep this district so strong. She has a really good connection with people at the school sites and in the community. She connected the district with individuals. Those kind of relationships take years to build, and not having her here is going to be very hard," Clay added. "Caroline's strengths were that she listened and got to know people--and for the community, that was invaluable."
