Seneca Valley honors retiring staff members
JACKSON TWP — More than six centuries of experience will be headed out the door of Seneca Valley schools at the end of this school year.
Classes at Seneca Valley Senior High School have already ended for the year, and Wednesday, June 7, is the last day of school for children from kindergarten through 11th grade. With the end of the school year, 27 staff members at Seneca Valley schools, all of whom have been employed with the district for at least a decade, are retiring.
Combined, the retiring staff members represent over 665 years of service to Seneca Valley schools — nearly two-thirds of a millennium.
The list of retirees includes not only teachers, but also assistants, paraprofessionals, custodians and cafeteria staff, and high-ranking officials such as Ron Butschle, the dean of students at Seneca Valley Senior High who is retiring after 19 years.
The Seneca Valley School Board honored all 27 retiring staff members with a standing ovation during the board’s monthly work session Monday evening, June 5. Afterward, the retirees who were present at the meeting were given the opportunity to shake hands with the members of the school board.
"The end of the year, while so exciting for so many, is often a bittersweet time for us, the others that are left behind,“ said Tracy Vitale, district superintendent. ”Not because we can’t leave with you, but because we know many of you both professionally and personally.
“These are professional experts who truly love children, but also taught and worked through COVID and then came back. Not so many did that.”
Yvonne Dobrzansky, president of the Seneca Valley Education Association, has been teaching in the Seneca Valley system for 25 years and is currently teaching first grade at the recently opened Ehrman Crest school. She feels the loss of retired professionals every single year.
“It’s bittersweet because I think about the turnover in the profession and the excitement for new teachers,” Dobrzansky said. “We all remember what it was like to be hired that first time.
“The bittersweet part is that I’m losing colleagues that I’ve worked with for many, many years. I will miss them. I will miss their expertise and their guidance.”
