Superintendent Mario Contini Mario Contini has decided to retire from his post as superintendent of Conejo Valley Unified, a district that’s seen many ups and downs with Contini at the helm during the last three years.

Contini will retire in June 2010, he announced Tuesday. He’ll be 63.

During Contini’s administration, CVUSD began a successful junior kindergarten program, opened the Early Childhood Development Center and created a new science-and-technologybased magnet school. Test scores remain among the highest in the state, and there’s been recent positive changes in technology.

“It’s been a collective effort,” Contini said.

“In spite of challenges, we’ve kept our eye on the prize, which is doing good things for kids. Things have gotten better in spite of some things that made it very, very diffcult,” he said.

The district has faced difficulties in the wake of the state budget crisis, including layoffs and school closures—the process of the latter entangling Contini’s first couple years as superintendent.

CVUSD also fought the opening of Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School (MATES), the charter school eventually greenlighted by Ventura County. Contini and district staff found themselves in court trying to deny MATES a district school site, a case which the district lost in May.

Contini said stress didn’t play into his decision to retire but admitted the excessive workload is taking a toll.

“You just don’t have the time to do the job the way you want to do it,” Contini said. “You’re always cutting corners to get things done. That’s not my style. It’s not stress, those kind of problems. It’s more disappointment.”

But Contini said he’s proud of how everyone kept the focus on students.

“No matter how tough it got, we all stuck together,” he said. “Things got extraordinarily tough with the way the budget hit us. But the parents, community, staff, the board, you name it, we kept it together. And we kept things moving forward.”

Tim Stephens, school board president, said he considers the magnet schools and middle school academies to be the brightest lights in Contini’s legacy.

“Mario will be leaving CVUSD in June a more effective educational institution than it was when he arrived in 2006,” Stephens said. “That is the mark of true leadership.”

Contini began teaching 33 years ago in Detroit. In 1977, he came to T.O. Over the next 29 years, Contini served as a teacher, principal and superintendent in Fillmore Unified School District before being appointed CVUSD superintendent in 2006.

Contini said he had originally planned to work until he was 65, but he and his wife, Patty, began talking more about moving their retirements up last summer.

Patty Contini, currently in her fifth year as the director of Health and Early Childhood Programs for the Ventura County Office of Education, also announced her June retirement. She has also served as the district health coordinator and health specialist for the Fillmore, Moorpark and Ventura school districts.

“Doing it together was the key thing,” Mario Contini said. “Neither of us would do it unless it was both of us. It was kind of like a double dare thing.”

He said they’ll take the first month to three months to “let things happen” and then reevaluate what they’d like to do.

“I call it reclaiming my life,” Contini said. “We’ve given up hobbies and travel for many years because we really love our work. We both work very, very hard. We’d like to get back visitations with friends and families, and really, just enjoy walking in the morning—do the things you dream about.”

The Continis will stay in Thousand Oaks. Their three children are grown. Contini’s 98year-old mother lives up the street from them.

The district’s school board will discuss how it plans to fill Contini’s vacancy in a closed session at its Oct. 6 meeting. Contini said he’s encouraged the board to report some details of their plan at the board’s Oct. 20 meeting.

“We faced the brutal challenges before us like a family,” Contini said. “I will never forget our cause and the relationships we have forged together. These have fulfilled my life. I hope that in some way I have fulfilled the lives of others.”