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Photograph by Robert Scheer

Cindy Cummins, left, who will soon end 17 years with the Sunnyvale Elementary School District, shares a laugh with friend Wendy Scarangello, a parent.

The 'glue' holding SESD together takes new job

Cindy Cummins worked with six superintendents, 20 board members

By Katherine Petersen

The Sunnyvale Elementary School District might suffer something akin to growing pains after Cindy Cummins, who has served as administrative assistant to the superintendent for the past 17 years, leaves for a new job closer to home.

Many say that Cummins is the glue that has held the district together.

"If something has ever been put on paper, Cindy will know where to find it," said Ben Picard, who was interim superintendent for the district through Sept. 14, when Joseph Rudnicki took over.

Cummins has worked for six superintendents and 20 board members. She came to the district as a single 25-year-old and is leaving as a married 42-year-old with a 10-year-old daughter, Stephanie.

"I always agonized over new bosses, but everything always worked out. I love it here," Cummins said. "I'm going to miss the people and the comfort level, but I won't miss the one-and-a-half-hour Friday evening commutes."

Cummins will take a job as administrative superintendent in the Union City Unified School District near her home in Fremont.

"I like working in school districts because it gives me an opportunity to help children," she said. "Even though I'm not on the firing line, I feel that I'm making a difference."

Cummins is recognized by the people who have worked with her as professional and efficient as well as a good listener and a person who always has a ready smile.

"One hundred percent of the time, she's 100 percent professional," said former Superintendent Doris Wilson, who left the district last spring for a job in Southern California. "When things would get stressful in the office, she could break it up with humor. When the dust is flying, Cindy can just shrug and say it's not a big deal."

Wilson and Cummins almost always spent the lunch hour together, chatting and working. Cummins would bring lunch from home for the two of them every other day, but on Wilson's lunch-duty days, the noncook would run out and buy two of something.

"We always had those few minutes to catch up on things," Wilson said. "We're very close. I consider her one of my best friends."

Those who know Cummins say she will be hard to replace. "She knows the ins and outs of the district. She's very knowledgeable and has kept us organized over the years," said board member Peggy Quillinan.

At her new job, Cummins will have the challenge of calming the parents of high school kids. "I looking forward to the challenge of working in a bigger district. I'm ready to stretch a little more," she said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 24, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.