Manville officially steps down

SAUGUS – Lying on the conference table in his office were the last remnants of Superintendent Keith Manville’s career, his Dr. Seuss hat, a flying monkey and a framed piece of artwork on education.Manville said those items and the remaining portion of his bookcase was about all he had left to clear out of his office before he called it a career. “No regrets,” he said. “I have loved what I did.”Though Manville said he did wonder if he might be facing a bit of an identity crisis; Superintendent of Schools one day and just another guy the next. Is he, he wondered aloud, defined by his job?”I really don’t know. I guess I’ll know by the end of the week,” he said. “This is the first time since I got out of the Navy that I really don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow.”But he does have plans for today at least.Manville said for his first official day of retirement he and his wife planned on heading north to York or Ogunquit, Maine. He is also toying with becoming a spinning instructor.Manville said he joined a spinning class, an exercise adventure that includes an updated stationary bike, music and often a grueling pace, about four years ago. He said he was considering putting his name in as a substitute instructor at a couple of health clubs in his area of Reading.”I planned,” he joked. “I’m not going to do it full time but it might be fun.”As he speaks Veterans School Principal Uri Harel pops in to say goodbye, as does School Committee member Rick Doucette.During Thursday’s School Committee meeting Doucette remembered his first conversation with Manville.It was following a Finance Committee meeting and Doucette, who is now a teacher in another district, was just beginning to contemplate going back to school for his teaching degree.”I asked you for advice and you gave it and you were happy to give it,” he said.Doucette said he believed his transition from the corporate world to teaching was smooth in part thanks to Manville’s generosity.During the same meeting, committee member Bill Leuci told Manville he wished he’d been on the board longer so he could have worked with him longer.Christine Wilson faltered for just a second before telling Manville simply, “I’ll miss you.”Chairman Joseph Malone called Manville Saugus’s own Theo Epstein and said he was sorry to see him go. Wendy Reed, who wasn’t at the meeting said later she was at a loss for words.”What do you say, I hope he’s happy in his retirement,” she said.Manville said he’s enjoyed being a superintendent, loved being a building principal as well as a teacher.”I had a lot of fun and I will continue to have a lot of fun, just in a different way,” he said.