Long Beach Schools District Clerk says farewell after a decade

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After 10 years as the Long Beach Public Schools District Clerk and 28 years in the city, Carole Butler said goodbye to her post and the city on June 30.

Sitting in an office full of flowers, Butler reminisced about her time in the district and thanked the community for the support.

“Long Beach is a very close-knit community and everyone supports everybody else, so it’s not unusual to be appreciated by everybody,” Butler said. “I will miss Long Beach, but I’ll never forget the kindness and thoughtfulness of the people that live here and work here.”

Butler added that she thought the Long Beach school district is more of a family than other districts. “When one person goes down, 10 people get together to lift them up,” Butler said of the Long Beach community.

Before joining the district as a clerk, Butler was a part of the PTA at Lindell Elementary School, Septa, Middle School PTA, and a surrogate parent for the district, among other positions. Prior to being the district clerk, she also worked at the Barry & Florence Friedberg JCC in Long Beach, where she met many children who would go through the school district.

“I really enjoyed it,” Butler said. “That was one of the highlights of working in this job, is watching the kids succeed and their families.”

Butler said that the district is “definitely” moving in the right direction. She praised the district’s effort in addressing social and emotional issues in students as well as critical thinking. Additionally, she said the athletics program has evolved to make it more inclusive.

Throughout her 10 years at the district, Butler said this past election was her most challenging time as district clerk. She was tasked with mailing out the 28,000 absentee ballots with little resources and counting them because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, she said the highlight if the process was the “top-notch” clerical staff. She lauded the clerical staff and said they outperformed her expectations. “They are the heart and soul of the district,” Butler said.

Longtime School Board Trustee, Dr. Dennis Ryan, said Butler did a “terrific job” during this year’s election and added that Butler never complains about her job, but rather “rolls up her sleeves and does what she has to do.”

He added that Butler was very smart, resourceful and very consistent.

“I think any board member who has worked with her has been pleased with her performance,” Ryan said. “I’m happy she’s going because she said it was time. She certainly could have stayed on for as long as she wanted because her worker never varied. It was always at a consistently high level.”

Butler came to Long Beach from Manhattan to give her son Alex, who is autistic, a better education. Butler, 64, is now moving with her husband Mickey to Kingston, where they can be closer to Alex, now 32, who is living on a farm just a few miles away from their new home.

“It’s been an honor to work with such an incredible group of people, who truly care about the children and families in this community,” Butler said. “They go above and beyond.”

Lori Dolan will succeed Butler as the new district clerk. Butler praised her successor and said the district made a great choice in hiring her.