For immediate release
March 24, 2008

Board accepts retirement of Roberta John, Director of Special Services

The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education accepted Roberta John’s retirement at its March 24 meeting. John, the district’s Director of Special Services, will retire Sept. 30 with 19 years in the Stow-Munroe Falls district.

“ Bobbi John has been a tremendous asset to our school district,” said Superintendent Dr. Russell Jones. “She has been a champion for children with special needs and has guided the district through the myriad of changes that have occurred in this area over the years. Bobbi is one of those professionals that simply cannot be replaced.”

John said that special education has changed tremendously throughout her 35-year career.

“As a special education classroom teacher, I started teaching a year before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became law,” said John. “At that time, a district could write to the state department and say that a child could not be educated and wash their hands of him. Now children with disabilities are guaranteed a free and appropriate public education.”

John joined the Stow-Munroe Falls City School District in November 1989 and by February 1990, she had applied for and received state funding to start a preschool classroom at Indian Trail for children with disabilities. This was at a time when there was no requirement to offer preschool, said John. Within a few years the state required school districts to educate children with disabilities starting on their 3rd birthday up until their 22nd birthday.

The preschool program has since expanded in the district to three full classrooms with students both in the morning and afternoon. The preschool includes children ages 3-5 who have disabilities and “peers” who are “typically developing” children.

One of the things John is most proud of is the expansion of special education services to a more comprehensive program within the district. Twenty years ago, students in the Stow-Munroe Falls district would have to attend classes in Kent or Tallmadge depending on their age or disability. Today most children attend their neighborhood school which benefits both children with disabilities and those who are typically developing.

One of the kindest compliments John said she received was from former Stow superintendent Dean Mizer, who, upon his retirement, told her “the legacy you leave, when you leave a district, is in the people you’ve hired. Bobbi, you are part of my legacy.”

In that vein, John said that one of legacies she would leave the Stow-Munroe Falls district is the Parent Mentor program.
For the past three years, the district has had two Parent Mentors who provide support, information and resources to families of students in special education and the teachers and assistants who serve them.

Another “legacy” is the addition of a Mental Health Therapist/Case Manager at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. The full-time therapist is contracted with Child Guidance & Family Solutions and provides school-based mental health services. John said, “Until you support kids’ mental health needs, they’re not ready to learn.”

Over the past 19 years, John said she has “pretty much lived the law” of special education, seeing many major changes to the way services are delivered in public schools. She chose special education as her college major before it was widely offered as a major. Over the past 35 years, John has been a special education classroom teacher, a special education supervisor and the director of special services.

“Bobbi’s expertise, compassion and attention to detail in the area of Special Services will be difficult to replace,” said Board of Education president Kathleen Armstrong. “She has been a true professional and caring advocate for the children of our district.”

John said she has no specific plans for her retirement. “I will miss the kids and perhaps when I retire I will do something that gets me closer to kids again.”

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