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Life after school
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer
NEW TAMPA -- On Monday, Jan. 6, for the first time in 51 years, Mitch Muley will not plan his day around school -- around the honors class, the cafeteria food, the detention hall, around anything. After nearly 34 years as an educator and 17 as a student, Wharton High School's founding principal is calling it quits. "It's hard to believe," said the 55-year-old Muley. "But I'll be all right." Don't believe him. Muley's just steeling for the cameras. It will be tough. He's a sentimental guy -- the kind who will look at his plaques as he packs them away for good -- and the women in the front office think he'll shed tears. With Wharton settling into its roots, Muley said it's "just time to go." "The school is on a good path, we've got good people working here," said Muley. "It's been a good run." When Muley moved into Wharton in February of 1997 from Ben Hill Middle School, he didn't have a phone or a desk. He worked out of a construction trailer and watched Wharton rise from the brush and dirt. Wharton's first students came from Chamberlain, Hillsborough and King High School. The school opened without a senior class and still had 1,700 students. From there the numbers only went up. Only when Freedom High School opened in Tampa Palms this fall did Wharton's overcrowding pains ease. Muley said he was proudest of Wharton's academic programs and nurturing a sense of community from a fractured beginning. FCAT scores -- Wharton received a grade of C this year from the state -- and attendance records need to improve, he said. "Now the kids feel that this is their school, this is their home, but that takes time," said Muley, picking up a wrapper off the ground of a concrete court yard dotted with saplings. "Rome wasn't built in a day, and schools aren't either." Muley's official retirement date is Feb. 3. But while he's taking January off, assistant principal Denny Oest will be in charge. After that, the name of the new leader is anyone's guess. Mark Hart, spokesman for the Hillsborough County School Board, said the board hoped to approve a candidate by mid January. You don't spend more than 30 years in education without seeing a few changes. Fine, a lot. And yet sometimes it seems like nothing changes. When Muley first began as a junior high teacher in 1969, Florida schools were still segregated, and the country was fighting a war halfway around the globe in Vietnam. Today, Hillsborough County is preparing to launch a controlled choice program that critics say could resegregate public schools. The country is on the verge of fighting a war halfway around the globe, this time in Iraq. Two things Muley has noticed are different: Kids today are smarter. They also have shorter attention spans. Cindy McCann, Wharton's PTSA vice president, said the school would miss Muley's warmth and the way he cares for individual students. "He's always so supportive," she said. "He has an open door policy. He loves what he does." Would you recommend your job to a high school student? Muley is asked. "Ah, that's a tough one," he said and paused. "Yeah, I would. I would recommend the education field, whether that is a principal's or a teacher's job, yeah, I would. Now whether it's my job, you have to have a different skin for mine." The skin of a Wharton principal, he explained, is conditioned by heart, diplomatic skill, and the ability to accept and deflect criticism. In his retirement, Muley plans to take care of his mother, travel and slim down by taking up triathalons again. He'll won't pass along advice to his successor unless she asks. The troublemakers and the disciplinary actions will not be missed. Everything else will. Especially the best moments, handing out diplomas in the Sun Dome to graduating seniors. -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com .
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