Buena High Principal to Take Early Retirement : Education: Michael Shanahan says he wants to leave on an upbeat note, before projected budget cuts take effect.

The principal of Buena High School has announced his early retirement, seeking to leave the Ventura Unified School District before officials make a projected $3.2 million in budget cuts next school year.

Michael Shanahan, a district employee for 37 years and principal at Buena since 1980, said he had originally planned to retire in 1992 but instead will leave at the end of June.

Shanahan, who earns about $72,000 a year, said the district could cut administrators’ salaries by as much as 14% next year, which could reduce his retirement income by $200 a month. His health benefits could also be reduced, he said.

The cuts also could lead to uneasy relations between administrators and teachers next year, Shanahan said, and he wants to end his career on an upbeat note.

“I wanted to leave with good feelings about the job and the people I work with,” the 63-year-old educator said.

Shanahan’s retirement means that district officials will have to begin searching for new principals at both its high schools.

Late last month, Robert Cousar, the principal at cross-town Ventura High, also announced that he will retire in June.

Cousar, 60, said Saturday that the cuts, including the loss last year of assistant principals at both high schools, contributed to his decision. Further financial cuts probably will increase the demands on the principals, he said.

“I may have wanted to stay a little longer, but the financial situation wasn’t getting any better,” said Cousar, a 31-year district employee.

School board member John Walker said it would be difficult to fill the two positions. “I personally hate to see them both go. They’re both doing good jobs in some very trying times,” Walker said. “But given the economic uncertainty, I don’t blame either one of them for doing it at this time.”

Shanahan taught English, drama and speech at Ventura High School when he moved to the area from Nebraska in 1954. He also met his wife of 35 years, Shirley, in the school system. She is currently a kindergarten teacher at Montalvo Elementary School, where she will continue working.

All five of his children are graduates of Ventura’s public schools, Shanahan said.

“This has been a great community for us to live in and to raise a family in and for me to be a part of the public school system,” Shanahan said. “I’ve had great experience teaching, which I love, and in administration at both Ventura and Buena high schools.”

Shanahan said he is seeking work as an educational consultant and also plans to write, garden and travel. He said he has been approached to run for the school board but is not seriously considering the suggestion.

“That would be like running from fire to fire,” he said.