Newly retired from his post as Superintendent of Schools for the Cabrillo Unified School District, Rob Gaskill is savoring the small things in life and looking forward to new plans.
Gaskill guided the district through some tough times, maintaining a balanced budget as revenues declined. The weight of responsibility now lifted from his shoulders, Gaskill took the time to answer some questions for Patch.
1. From your 40 year career, what is your fondest memory?
I have so many good memories... and I have met so many terrific people along the way. I guess two of my all-time "best memories" would be 1) participating in a restructuring effort that led to a California Distinguished School award for Irvington High School in 1996 and 2) being part of the successful Measure E parcel tax campaign in 2010. Two very special moments!
2. What is the toughest decision that you had to make at CUSD? Any decision impacting people is extremely difficult and on two different occasions I have taken recommendations to reduce staffing to the Board in order to maintain a balanced budget. Those calls are as tough as it gets.
3. What advice will you give to the incoming superintendent?
Tony Roehrick is an experienced superintendent who doesn't need any advice from me! I hope he enjoys the Coastside community as much as I have and that he is able to maintain some degree of balance in his life. This is a very tough job at a very difficult point in time.
4. Will you leave education completely behind, or will you be working or volunteering at some level?
I KNOW I will never be able to totally "leave education behind." I will look for ways to volunteer my time or work in school settings and I will always remain a staunch advocate for our public schools.
5. Tell us about your first day of retirement.
I slept in... went to the gym... and did a whole list of errands that I could never seem to take care of during business hours. I also found a cool web site that taught me how to tune my new guitar. (That's a start!)
6. Beyond Day One, what are your retirement plans?
My wife Dondi and I are keeping an eye out for a new place to live where we'll have a little more space for some gardening and a dog or two. If we connect with something, we may be involved in moving.
Travel for certain.
Depending on where we are living, I would like to continue to do some work for schools... maybe coaching new principals or superintendents. We'll see.
I haven't bought a motorcycle yet... but I will.
I also need to learn to play a song or two on the guitar.
I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life... and all of the uncertainty that it brings.
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