Still on the job after 45 years at Knox ESC

MOUNT VERNON — Carla Douglas of rural Bellville was fresh out of Fredericktown High School when she began working at the Knox Educational Service Center in 1978.

Not long after Douglas was hired then-treasurer Evelyn Given mentioned one day that she had worked at the ESC for 16 years.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow! Sixteen years is a long time,’” Douglas said, laughing.

On Sept. 5 Douglas will mark 45 years at the ESC, evolving from a teenage office assistant to what Superintendent Dr. Timm Mackley describes as “the bedrock of the Knox ESC.”

“Forty-five years in one position is a remarkable achievement, but Carla is a remarkable person,” Mackley said. “She has seen it all and knows it all. Among the reasons that she has such an enviable record of longevity is that she is the perfect ambassador for our service center. She is tender-hearted, unfailingly polite, efficient, thorough and reliable.”

'Carla is the guru'

Douglas and office assistant Gwen Smith are heavily involved in the hiring of scores of school employees. Smith has worked side-by-side with Douglas for nearly 11 years.

“Carla is the guru,” Smith said. “Ask her anything and she usually knows the answer. If she doesn’t she will find it quickly. All of our client districts know that.”

The ESC hires teachers and support staff for the two programs it operates — the Knox ESC Preschool on the New Hope campus and the Knox Learning Center, an alternative school in the former Mount Vernon West Elementary.

The office also screens applicants desiring to work as educational aides in the ESC’s client districts — Centerburg, Clear Fork, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown, Mount Vernon and the Knox County Career Center.

“When a classroom aide applicant completes the application process, we contact the district where the applicant would prefer to work. The district makes the hiring decision but the aide remains an ESC employee,” Douglas explained.

The pay for aides is reimbursed to the ESC by the respective districts.

Douglas’s future at the ESC began one spring day in 1978 when then-superintendent Joe Short called Fredericktown High School.

“Betty Waller was the business office education teacher,” Douglas recalled. “Mr. Short asked her to send several seniors to interview for a secretary position. Mr. Short told me later that he hired me in part because I was the only one who brought a resume.”

Typed reports on a manual typewriter

The ESC office then was located in the county office building across the street from the courthouse. In 2003 it moved to the Knox Technical Center, 308 Martinsburg Road.

Douglas’ early duties included typing all manner of reports on a manual typewriter and preparing school newsletters on a collating machine. Eventually she became the receptionist.

As office manager her role has evolved over the years into what she describes as “a lot of human resources work.”

“People come in wanting to apply for teaching positions or to work as classroom aides,” Douglas said. “We’re here to answer questions and help them get started.”

Douglas and Smith initiate criminal background checks for all applicants and assist with educational aide permits required by the Ohio Department of Education. They assure that teaching licenses are current and maintain personnel files for all ESC employees.

Over the course of four and a half decades Douglas has worked with five ESC superintendents — Short, Bruce Hawkins, Ray Richardson, Dave Southward and, for the last 12 years, Mackley. Southward was her high school principal.

Douglas and her husband Paul have a Bellville address but reside in the Fredericktown school district. They are active in the Palmyra Church of Christ where Carla taught Sunday school for 13 years. They have two children, Amber Richards and Alex Douglas, and three granddaughters.

“This job is a blessing,” Douglas said. “I love the people and the routine of the office duties. I have never regretted the decision to work here.”

Mackley sums up Douglas’ impact on her co-workers and the hundreds of others whose careers have started at her desk by saying simply: “Everyone knows her and everyone loves her.”

Larry Gibbs is the public information officer for the Knox Educational Service Center in Mount Vernon.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Carla Douglas marks 45 years at Knox Educational Service Center