“I always wondered, ‘What do you do when you retire?,’” said Bob Cervetto, who is running as an incumbent for an unexpired term on the Dublin ISD School Board. “I thought the experience I had would benefit being on the board. It just so happened I got appointed sooner than I could run for election.”
That appointment happened following the resignation of Charlie Bradberry last year so Cervetto gets to fulfill his plan to run now.(Jeff Weaver originally stepped in to fill the seat but resigned in December so his wife, Lisa, could take a teaching position. Cervetto's first meeting on Dublin ISD was in January.)
As a man with four decades in education, Cervetto has seen a lot of changes in the field and gained a lot of experience in multiple roles.
After a year as a teacher and coach at Abilene ISD, He joined Stephenville ISD where he served 30 years in multiple capacities-teacher, coach, Jr. High athletic coordinator, assistant principal and principal.
He was nearly ready for retirement when he moved from Stephenville to Dublin but the promise of getting to rebuild the hurting athletics program sounded so inviting. It also got him more involved in the Dublin community and he is grateful for the opportunity.
“Eleven years ago, I fell in love with Dublin,” Cervetto said, recalling his acceptance of the athletic director position at Dublin ISD and getting to know the staff and students.
That first year also provided a guiding light of how he served that position. “I got the seniors together and asked them what they wanted,” he remembered. “One of the seniors spoke up and said, ‘Coach, I want to be respected.’”
“I said alright,” Cervetto continued. “We’ll work in such a way that people are going to respect us across the state.”
Cervetto reports that in his tenure, through the efforts of the students, staff and support from the community, he witnessed a change in attitude for Dublin ISD and the community. He said that has come hand in hand with success, not just in sports but in all aspects of the school, from playoff bids to high state scores to groups like one act play advancing to regionals.
Cervetto is pleased with all the growth of the last decade but said that people in education have to be proactive and not reactive.
“With education, you can’t get complacent,” he said.
That means making decisions as a board while thinking about how they will affect the district in the years to come. It also means providing opportunities students want.
Cervetto has noticed a push for more practical training for students who aren’t looking to attend a four-year university and is happy that DISD has developed partnerships that have allowed many students to graduate with associates degrees in several different fields. He’d like to keep increasing these options so students “have a leg up” after graduating from DISD.
Cervetto has also noticed a negative trend with teacher retention around the state, saying it likely comes from increased demands that older teachers aren’t accustomed to. Cervetto feels Dublin is in a better position that many schools since there are many that haven’t been able to get full teaching staffs.
Cervetto reported he has learned a lot after his appointment to the board, attending board conventions and training. Many of these lessons put context on the decades of board meeting he attended at Stephenville and Dublin.
“I feel fortunate I get to see things from both sides of the aisle,” Cervetto said, indicating an ability to see from the teachers’ side while making decisions based on experience and education.
Bob and and his wife, Norma, have two children, Stacey Cervetto and Kellen Cervetto (and wife, Stephanie) and four grandchildren, Caroline, Charlotte, Harley and Ivy.
(UPDATE: Story edited for clarification on Cervetto's appointment to the school board.)