By Khalida Sarwari
After serving in the Campbell Union High School District for 40 years, superintendent Rhonda Farber will pass the torch to Patrick Gaffney when she retires at the end of this month. Gaffney is currently the assistant superintendent for the district and will begin as superintendent on July 1.
“Pat has been the business person for me for the past 13 years,” Farber said. “He very much cares about the district, knows the district and is really looking forward to doing a great job.”
Replacing Gaffney will be Ron Wheelehan, an assistant superintendent at the San Benito County Office of Education and a graduate of Del Mar High School.
Gaffney, 46, was selected by the five-member school board from a list of candidates after an internal search. Matthew Dean, a member of the district’s board of trustees, said Gaffney’s “continuity and stability made him an excellent choice.
“He’s an asset to the district,” Dean said. “He has an excellent command of the district finances, which at this time is critical to a successful function of the district. He puts us in a very good position to continue in a fiscally prudent manner.”
Gaffney has 10 years of experience as assistant superintendent and three years as deputy superintendent. Prior to joining the district in 1999, he worked at Hewlett- Packard in a variety of international and national financial management roles for 11 years.
“It’s a great honor to do this on behalf of the community and the district,” Gaffney said. “I’m privileged to do it.”
Gaffney stressed that he would focus on bridging the student achievement gap, improving graduation rates, recruiting and retaining employees, maintaining a balanced budget and completing the construction projects associated with bond measures passed in 1999 and 2006.
“We’re looking to continue the great traditions we have in the district,” he said.
About the time that Gaffney came on board in 1999, Farber began her superintendency after working in various capacities for the district since 1972. Gaffney said she has earned her retirement.
“She’s been a champion for the students in this district, for the families and for the community in our district. She’s a tremendous individual,” Gaffney said. “We all wish her the best in her retirement.”
Farber said she would miss the people she has worked with, but that she looks forward to having more time to travel, do volunteer work and spend time with her family.
“It’s exciting; I kind of look at it as a new chapter,” the 62-year-old said. “It’s been a wonderful career, but 40 years–that’s a perfect number for me. It’s time to do some other things.”
Farber was hired by the Campbell Union High School District in 1972 as an English teacher at Leigh High School, where she taught for six years. She then transferred to Blackford, where she taught and chaired the English department. She taught teenagers during the day at Blackford, and at night Farber taught courses in the English department at West Valley College and Mission College.
Farber’s first foray into administration came at Blackford, where she served as a dean for two years. She then advanced to vice principal at that school, where she remained for another two years.
Farber was Westmont’s vice principal for one year, followed by seven years as principal. She went back to teaching for one year at the district’s alternative school and one year at the vocational school before serving in CUHSD’s human resources department for four years.
