By Travis Gettys
Enquirer contributor

Linda Klembara, who is retiring as principal of Stephens Elementary School in Boone County, hugs Paige Noll as she says goodbye to a group of third-graders. School officials will select a new principal sometime after Klembara's last day, June 30. The Cincinnati Enquirer/PATRICK REDDY

BURLINGTON - Two small boys stood sullenly before the principal, one claiming that the other had aimed a ball at him recklessly.

Friday was the last day of school for about 19,500 students in Boone County and Covington Independent Schools, and some students were overeager for summer to arrive, said Linda Klembara, principal at Stephens Elementary School.

"If you go into a school where nothing's going on, something's wrong," Klembara said.

Klembara shared the boys' excitement, if not their choice of expressing it, because summer brings the start of her retirement from 29 years as an educator.

Frustrated by budget cuts and changes in her role, Klembara said she decided to retire the day the Kentucky Legislature ended its session without passing a budget.

"That's their job, and it makes my job harder," she said.

SCHOOL'S OUT

Last day of school for area schools: Beechwood Ind. June 2 Bellevue Ind. June 2 Boone Co. May 21 Campbell Co. May 28 Covington Ind. May 21 Dayton Ind. May 28 Erlanger-Elsmere May 27 Fort Thomas Ind. June 3 Kenton Co. June 10 Ludlow Ind. June 2 Newport Ind. May 27 Silver Grove Ind. June 3 Southgate Ind. May 24 Walton-Verona Ind. May 24

Education mandates had left her feeling chained to her desk, Klembara said.

"Two years ago, if you'd asked me what I do, I'd tell you I work with teachers, I work with children - I make a difference," she said. "Now I'd tell you I write reports."

Under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, schools must document student achievement levels, and Klembara said those reports drain resources from children.

"I have no issue with accountability," she said. "Everybody who receives a penny of taxpayer money should be held accountable.

"I have an issue when they ask teachers to walk on water - and they won't give us the water," Klembara said.

Stephens Elementary has lacked sufficient funds to pay for textbooks in each of the last two years, Klembara said, despite lawmakers' calls for higher education standards.

"We have to make sure what we say and what we do are congruent," said Klembara, a former math teacher.

With help from parents and the community, Klembara said, the school found money to pay for books and a program that teaches high-level math to grade-school students.

The loss of her energy will leave a huge void at Stephens Elementary, said second grade teacher Jerry Breedenberg.

Klembara boosted morale by helping teachers navigate changes enacted by lawmakers, Breedenberg said. "In education, everybody's telling you what to do, and it constantly changes. She makes you feel like you can do this, (that) it's not impossible."

School officials will select a new principal sometime after Klembara's last day, June 30, but she plans to continue working with children.

Klembara said she had wanted to be a teacher since second grade, and she will likely spend her retirement doing volunteer work for schools.

"My mission is a moral mission," she said. "I answer to a higher cause than Frankfort or Washington, D.C.

"No one needs to tell me to leave no child behind," Klembara said.