SCHOOLS Calling it quits after 3 decades
Lucille B. Altiero has seen good times and bad during her career at Girard schools.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- As secretary to the city's school superintendents for 33 years, Lucille B. Altiero has seen seven of them come and go. Now, at age 81, she's decided that's about enough.
"Although I don't want to retire, I think it's time. I love to work. It keeps me healthy -- physically and mentally," she said.
A Girard native, Altiero graduated from Girard High School in 1940. By then, she had already been volunteering at St. Rose Church. She recalled doing "just any project that came up. Anything that needed done."
She was longtime head of the St. Rose School cafeteria, where she learned to file reports for government reimbursement, both as a volunteer and later for pay.
On Good Friday 1968, she was asked if she wanted to become a substitute secretary in the school system. She started work immediately.
In 1971, the position of administrative secretary became open and 25 people applied for the job. One of the applicants was a Youngstown State University business graduate. But Altiero got the job because of the experience with government programs she gained at St. Rose.
She's seen the change of superintendents from conservatives to those who are more outgoing. She's also seen a change in students.
"Many of them don't seem to be as respectful as in the past. I think we've given our children too much, starting with the baby boomers," Altiero said.
"Now they expect it. We did this to our children. The boomers as parents were too lenient. They spoiled the kids. They don't seem to appreciate it as I did as a young girl."
Over the years, Altiero, a widow and the mother of four, has gone through three school strikes -- one by teachers and two by noncertified staff. The strikes caused a rift between the two groups.
She credits former Superintendent Anthony D'Ambrosio with bringing the employee unions together.
She's also seen Prospect Elementary remodeled twice and the construction of the intermediate school.
The construction of the intermediate school and its subsequent air-quality issue was especially hard on Altiero, she said. Her son-in-law, Dr. Richard Ragozine, was school board president at the time. A citizens group attempted to have the board removed, but failed in court.
"That was hard for everyone," Altiero said.
She asserted that the small citizens group seeking to remove the board "wanted trouble." As a result, the school board was forced to spend money on legal fees.
"It made me happy when the judge threw them out of court," she recalled.
Another dark period was Superintendent Joseph Shoaf's using alcohol and drugs with a high school girl in his office. Shoaf was eventually sentenced to prison. Altiero sat just feet from Shoaf's door.
"He just had me fooled. I'm not street-smart," she said. "I wasn't the only one. He fooled the teachers and administrators."
"We survived," she noted, giving the credit to current Superintendent Marty Santillo, who was called in quickly to replace Shoaf. "He healed everything."
yovich@vindy.com