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Hampton Bays Superintendent Lars Clemensen thanks recently-retired Director of School Safety & Transportation John Moran for his hard work and dedication to the district and its students and staff.
Hampton Bays Superintendent Lars Clemensen wishes recently-retired Director of School Safety & Transportation John Moran well in his retirement.
Recently-retired Director of School Safety & Transportation John Moran thanks those in attendance at the November 9 board of education meeting for their love and support.
Recently-retired Director of School Safety & Transportation John Moran thanks the board of eduction during its November 9 meeting for assembling a student-driven group of administrators, and for allowing him to do the work he did.
Lars Clemensen remembers fondly the time when he and the Hampton Bays School District’s now former director of school safety and transportation, John Moran, were on a stakeout to determine if a bus stop was safe or not. The pair hopped in a car and drove to pick-up and drop-off locations, turning left and right hot on the bus’s trail to ensure kids entered and exited out of harm’s way.
“He taught me a lot about school safety and attention to detail,” the Hampton Bays superintendent said of Moran Tuesday. “We’ve had hurricanes and snow storms — we’d be out on the roads at 4 a.m. checking them out to make sure every road was safe to pass before we made any calls. We even checked bus stops and hills, because that was the attention to detail and care that Mr. Moran brought to the job.”
At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, November 9, the trustees and administration bid farewell to their 17-year veteran, who retired September 30.
This was actually the director of school safety and transportation’s second time doing so. Moran was a member of the Southampton Town Police Department for 26 years prior to his stint in Hampton Bays.
“He had great aspirations,” Clemensen said of Moran. “And we’re here to celebrate him tonight.”
When the former police officer began work in Southampton Town, it was a very different place from when he started, and the superintendent said the same is true in Hampton Bays. From the 2004-05 school year and beyond, school safety became something districts focused on.
“While school safety of our students and our faculty and staff was always important, it really became something that we woke up, spent all day and go to bed thinking about,” Clemensen said. “The school district, at that time, knew it needed someone to come in and think about all the many moving parts that go into keeping every child safe every single day, and Mr. Moran did that over the course of his time in Hampton Bays.”
“We’ve faced evacuations, fires, exploding tires, famines, locusts, plagues — open your Bible, it’s in there,” Moran joked. “And I still loved coming here to work every day.”
What the superintendent also recalls dotingly are the times the school safety and transportation director would present at Parent Teacher Association meetings and open houses, almost always being teased about opening up with the fact that he was a 26-year police officer, but also for ending his spiels with the fact his children went through the district.
“He would always end by sharing his passion and experience and talk about Nicholas and Kristen, his two kids who grew up in the Hampton Bays schools, graduated, attended SUNY Geneseo and the University of Delaware and have extremely successful lives that he credits to Hampton Bays and the experiences that they had here,” Clemensen said. “He would close his remarks by saying that he does this work so that he could help contribute to a system that gives every child opportunities. It’s always stuck with me — I’ve always appreciated that — and it’s really an inspiration for all of us and a way to think about how we do our job — that we’d want to put our most precious assets, our own children, through a district that cares for them like the Moran family did.”
While the superintendent thanked Moran for helping to build a crew of aspiring and retired law enforcement officials who were security guards morning, noon and night, on Saturdays and at special events all summer long — being the eyes and ears that keep kids safe — the former police officer acknowledged the board for making the district such a special place.
“I would like to thank the board for assembling this group of administrators who are the most student and child-driven group I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,” Moran said. “And as a community member, I say thank you. They are amazing, and it was a pleasure — a true pleasure — to come here and work with them every day.”
Clemensen said the former police officer leaves very big shoes to fill, but again acknowledged all Moran has done over his illustrious career.
“Many of those folks he brought on and worked with have gone on to be law enforcement members, and they had training here, and I’m proud of that, because it makes them better law enforcement officers having learned from Mr. Moran,” the superintendent said. “You left us systems and values that maintain integrity for every one of our staff members and teachers. We treat every one of our 2,000 students as if they’re our own. We’ll keep at the forefront of our minds that the safety of our kids and our staff is the most important work we do, because without it, we can’t do anything else.
“You left Hampton Bays schools better than you found them,” Clemensen continued. “We wish you nothing but health and happiness in your now second retirement. Congratulations, Mr. Moran.”
Through rounds of applause, cheers and praise, Moran recognized those in attendance Tuesday night one final time: “I would also like to thank the board and everyone here for allowing me to be a part of this experience. This has been a good part of my life, but it’s time to go. I thank you very much. Thank you.”
