Schools Fill Administrative Gaps by Calling On Retirees : Employment: Simi Valley program encourages former educators to take jobs until permanent staff members are hired.

James Lian doesn’t lead the life of a typical retiree.

Before noon on Monday, he had held two parent-teacher conferences, lectured a student about his baggy pants, and helped Mark Harwick, 13, deal with the trauma of navigating junior high hallways with a new cast on his arm.

Instead of hitting the links or sleeping in, Lian spends his days at Hillside Junior High School, where he is filling in as assistant principal while the district looks for a full-time administrator.

“My wife said she doesn’t want to retire the way that I retired,” said Lian, who stepped down as principal of Lincoln Elementary in 1993 at age 59, but is back on campus these days. “I’m just as busy now.”

Lian is one of several retirees hired to fill in on short-term assignments in the Simi Valley Unified School District--veteran educators sharing decades of experience with a new generation of teachers and students.

He comes to the school district through the Simi Administrators Group in Education, or SAGE program, which encourages former educators to stay in touch with the district.

Started by district Supt. Mary Beth Wolford two years ago, the SAGE program includes brown-bag lunches, where retirees can catch up with friends and district happenings, and learn about volunteer and work opportunities.

“Only too often we have wonderful longtime employees that retire, and they sever their ties with the district,” said Wolford, who came up with the group’s acronym before deciding on its name. “I liked SAGE because it refers to wisdom and knowledge.”

Wolford said she also uses the SAGE program to spread a positive image of the district in the community.

“Those in leadership positions in the district are still in leadership positions in a number of ways--in church, in volunteer organizations,” Wolford said. “It’s a good way to keep up with some of the best PR people we’ve ever had.”

Wolford said the district benefits most from the retirees who return to work, filling in while the district searches for permanent replacements for empty administrative positions.

At least four retirees, including Lian, are filling temporary slots in the district. Retired elementary school principal Sheila Robbins is working in the district office as the interim director of elementary education. Bob Hird, a former coach and counselor at Royal and Simi high schools, has returned as a counselor at Royal.

Retired Hollow Hills Principal Bill Meyers is representing the district at a court hearing for a few weeks. Another retiree is scheduled to fill in at Simi Valley adult school in the coming weeks.

“I don’t know what we’d do without them,” said Shirley Shepard, an educational services administrative assistant. “They’re great in a pinch because you don’t have to train them.”

Hird, who has returned for three months to the school that named its baseball field after him, said he enjoys spending his days among young faces and old colleagues at Royal High School. But he said filling in for a former colleague on family leave is making him appreciate the retired life.

“I had forgotten what it was like to work all day long,” Hird said. “Carrying a golf bag is not the same thing.”

Hird, who retired in 1994, said returning to work isn’t easy, especially when golfing buddies come by the office to rub it in on their way to the greens.

“I’m glad it’s only until Thanksgiving,” he said.

Meanwhile, as Lian strolls through the campus of Hillside Junior High School, he doesn’t think life on campus has changed all that much since he worked in the district.

“Look at the computers and CD-ROM,” he said. “It’s amazing. They have an encyclopedia at the touch of the button. But they still have the same desires we had. They want to be popular, know everybody and sit with their friends at lunch.”