Secretary giving up seat after more than three decades
NEWTOWN – When Council Rock School Board next meets on July 18, attendees and viewers might notice something a little different. Something – make that someone -- will be missing.
It won’t be a board member, unless one of the nine is on vacation or away on business. It surely won’t be Mark Klein, Council Rock’s seemingly ubiquitous superintendent.
To followers of the board and many in the Council Rock comPuniWy, WKH GiIIHUHnFH wiOO EH ViJnifiFDnW. AIWHU PRUH WKDn WKUHH GHcades, board secretary Charlotte Walter is calling it a career.
In 1979, Walter was working in the zoning department in Northampton Township when the job at Council Rock opened up. Walter had, as she described it, two of the main qualities in the job description.
“I was well organized and took a lot of shorthand,” said Walter, who grew up on a farm in Richboro.
Since then, she’s seen dozens of board members come and go DnG wRUNHG IRU fiYH VuSHUinWHnGHnWV. 7HDFKHUV’ VWUiNHV, WD[ KiNHV the near doubling of enrollment and the addition of a second high school – Walters has seen a lot in her 34 years. When pressed for the biggest change during her years, Walter referenced the shift in power.
“The superintendent really had control of the meetings back then,” Walter said. “I laugh about it now, but [Mark] could never get away with what they got away with in 1979. He could be pretty crude at times with his remarks.” Walter was referring to Jack Byrne, Council Rock’s superintendent from 1974 – 1991.
Walter credited Byrne with teaching her much of what led to her success and longevity in the role she’s occupied for so long.
Those meeting bear little resemblance to current sessions, which are a fair mix of administration and board members’ ideas and opinions, Walter said.
“It wasn’t a case where the board members felt like they had any control at all,” Walter said, laughing. “These days, the superintendent doesn’t really have a choice [but to defer to school board members].”
Speaking of her own Council Rock job, Walter estimated that she puts in 15 – 20 hours per month, much of which centers around the meeting minutes. She said she has gotten along with the board mem- bers over the years, but kept the relationships mainly on a professional level.
“I enjoyed the board members,” Walter said. “I learned a lot from them. There’s been so many people. Some of them you hated to see leave, some you didn’t. But they seemed to take to me pretty well. I don’t know why anyone would want that job. It’s a lot of time. They’re very dedicated and I respect them for that.” She had nothing but glowing praise for the current board members, giving the impression that the sentiments were sincere, not just because they were for publication. Board Vice President Kyle McKessy returned the sentiment. “Charlotte has been a dedicated employee, serving the Council Rock School District and Board of Directors for many years,” McKessy said. “She has been a tremendous asset and she will be greatly missed, both professionally and personally.”
When she started, Walter said she was “unusual” among Pennsylvania’s 501 school board secretaries because that was her lone re- sponsibility. Others, she said, were business managers and, in some cases, board members. Eventually, she was approached about taking over Human Resources, which she did, despite having no human resources experience.
“,W wDV EDSWiVP Ey fiUH, EuW PDn … , ORYHG HYHUy PinuWH RI iW,” Walter said. For eight years, she was the human resources department. The district hired a director, making Walter his assistant. Eventually she took over the department for another three years.
Walter considered working at Council Rock an honor, particularly EHFDuVH iW’V wKHUH VKH wHnW WR VFKRRO. SSHFifiFDOOy, VKH DWWHnGHG Richboro Elementary, Newtown Middle and Council Rock High schools. She also credits the district for forcing her – not literally – to further her education. When they approached her about taking over human resources, she had one question.
“’AUH yRu RuW RI yRuU PinG?’” VKH UHPHPEHUHG WKinNinJ. “, didn’t have any knowledge of HR, but it made me go back to colOHJH DnG JHW Py KuPDn UHVRuUFHV FHUWifiFDWH.”
She was also able to get a jump on the burgeoning technology through her continuing education, Walter said.
“The secretaries were afraid,” she said, “because these computers, these awful new computers, were coming into the schools. So they were retiring left and right. Did it every dawn on them to go to VFKRRO DnG OHDUn VRPHWKinJ nHw?”
AV UHTuiUHG VNiOOV FKDnJHG, VR, WRR, GiG RWKHU WKinJV. WDOWHU UHIHUenced the televising of the meetings. The cameras, she remembers hoping, would get members of the public and board members to be more conscious of what they were saying, live and in color. She was wrong.
“I thought maybe it would keep the people from carrying on,” Walter said. “But I think it caused them to grandstand. I thought, ‘They won’t get up and speak their real mind when they’re on TV.’ But they enjoyed it.”
BRDUG PHPEHU 5iFKDUG AEUDPVRn WRRN WiPH DW WKH HnG RI WDOWHU’V last meeting to recognize the job she did and how much she’ll be missed. It was a gesture not lost on the outgoing secretary.
“I was surprised,” Walter said. “He was very kind. vou don’t realize that you made an impact or that people were appreciative of your efforts.”
The whole experience taught her that “you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” Walter said. It’s a lesson she’s tried to pass on to her three children, two step children and eight grandchildren.
Walter said she’s not leaving the district a better place, or a worse place. What she’s leaving is a different place.
“Things change,” Walter said. “They’re very different. It’s not bad. It’s a wonderful school district. People could never say their children didn’t get a wonderful education here.”