Ford set to retire

Less than 12 hours after saying he wouldn’t confirm reports of his impending retirement, Phil Ford decided to make it official.
Ford sent a letter of resignation Thursday afternoon to Jay School Corporation superintendent Tim Long and the members of Jay School Board. He will retire after more than 40 years in education.
“I think it’s time,” Ford said Thursday evening. “There comes a time when it’s time to move on for numerous reasons. It’s time.
“The school’s in pretty good shape. There’s personnel in line to make that transition rather seamlessly ...”
Ford, 63, has served as JCHS principal for six years. He took the job in August 2008 after Jeremy Gulley resigned in order to take the same position at Huntington North.
He had hinted at his retirement Wednesday during a staff meeting, saying it was likely there would be a new principal during the 2014-15 school year. However, Thursday morning he said he hadn’t turned in a letter of resignation.
But by Thursday afternoon, he had.
“I’ve got great teachers to work with, great support staff. You couldn’t ask for any more out of the kids,” he said, reflecting on his time leading JCHS. “I think these kind of jobs aren’t really jobs, they’re trusts, if you will. You borrow them and you try to leave them as good or better as what you found them. And I think I’ve done that.”
Ford worked in Jay Schools for 34 years, including each of the last 11.
After spending five years away as athletics director at Wes-Del, he returned for his second stint as the Jay County AD in 2004. He served in that capacity for five years before becoming principal.
“He’s ran that school with an iron fist, which is how he runs things. The discipline is where it needs to be. Our ISTEP scores have improved,” said Jay School Board president Mike Masters, noting he is proud to call Ford a friend.
“He has extremely loyal personnel that does what they’re supposed to do when they’re supposed to do it.
“I’m sorry to see him go, for our sake. ... I can not imagine not seeing Phil at a function, because he’s at every single one.”
Ford, a 1968 graduate of Dunkirk High School, earned his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in 1972 and began his career teaching in Amelia, Ohio. He also taught for two years at Delta before coming to JCHS as a chemistry teacher in 1976.
He taught for 17 years, and became dean of students in 1993 and then athletics director in 1995.
His wife, Jill, taught at Pennville Elementary School from 1976 until her retirement last year.
He said when he graduated from high school he knew two things: he didn’t want to be involved in education and he didn’t want to live in Jay County. He went on to a career as a teacher and school administrator that has spanned more than four decades and has been a Dunkirk resident for all but three years of his life.
“As an 18-year-old kid, I don’t think any of us follow through on our plans. Our perspectives change and our opportunities change,” he said Thursday. “I’ve taken the jobs and the opportunities that I’ve had and enjoyed them and worked hard and tried to do my best.”

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