SANTA PAULA : ‘Mr. Mupu’ Plans to Resign in June

In his 18 years at Santa Paula’s Mupu Elementary School District, Mark Stevens has done everything from serving as superintendent to delivering sack lunches to working as the school crossing guard.

But Stevens, also a teacher whom students and colleagues have affectionately dubbed “Mr. Mupu,” is calling it quits in June.

“I’m ready to do something different,” said Stevens, 51, who is resigning to help his son open a restaurant in Santa Barbara. “It’s an exciting adventure, and after 18 years, it’s time for someone else to take a chance.”

Stevens announced his resignation at a Jan. 11 school board meeting. His last day in the one-school, 100-student district is June 30.

School officials may search for a replacement within the district, said school board member Norma Geis. The board is scheduled to discuss Stevens’ successor at its March 10 meeting.

Stevens began teaching fifth and sixth grades at Mupu in 1974. Three years later he was promoted to principal and superintendent, a combined position in the district.

But his duties don’t end there. He also delivers bag lunches each day to about 25 students and acts as crossing guard after school. When he’s not busy with those duties, he turns to the administrative tasks of the principal’s position.

“My office is wherever I’m standing,” said Stevens, who does not have an office at school.

Stevens said his greatest accomplishment was securing the state’s first reconstruction funds in 1987 for Mupu. The funds are designated for refurbishing school buildings more than 50 years old, he said. The 87-year-old school used the funds to build a new administration office, classrooms, library and a computer laboratory.

Stevens said he has taught nearly 600 students during his 18-year tenure. “I’m starting to teach the children of former students,” he said, chuckling.

“He’s an institution, and he’ll be missed,” Geis said.