FAIRFIELD — Charlie Wiedenmann is looking forward to Jan. 1 — the day his 15-year-old son, Fred, can stop scanning the newspapers each morning to see whether anything was written about his dad or the Fairfield City Schools.

        He won't have to make any more decisions about snow days or talk to angry parents whose daughters weren't chosen as cheerleaders.

        “If anyone asks me my opinion about the schools my response will be: I don't get paid to have an opinion,” Mr. Wiedenmann quipped last week, during one of his final interviews before his Dec. 31 retirement. “My time as a leader is over.”

        The 51-year-old superintendent will leave education after more than 29 years — the last 21 as a superintendent — first for Eaton Schools in Preble County, then Fairfield since 1992. He says he wants to be the one to write letters to the editor — this time as a parent and citizen of the Fairfield City Schools, not as its superintendent. Parent Charlie Wiedenmann won't be under the same confidentiality restraints or direction from the school board as Superintendent Charlie Wiedenmann has been.

        “For a while, anyway, I'll have a knowledge base. But I'll be speaking as a citizen who just happens to have more knowledge than most about the operations. I want to respond to all the people who give incorrect information or have a gripe or an agenda.”

        For the past six weeks, Mr. Wiedenmann has been working with incoming superintendent Robert Farrell, who has been serving as a consultant during the transition until his Jan. 1 start date. During Mr. Wiedenmann's last week, he plans to tie up loose ends and write letters of thanks to community members for their support during his eight-plus years as Fairfield's superintendent.

        He is also looking ahead to his new part-time job as one of four educational consultants with architects Steed-Hammond-Paul Inc., the Hamilton firm that designed Fairfield Senior High School and East Elementary. It will be his job to talk to school districts south of Interstate 70 about services the firm offers. But he won't be the contact person for either the Fairfield or Eaton schools. As he looks back on his superintendency in Fairfield, he's most proud of the coming together of the community.

        When he arrived, he said, there was little trust between the business community and the schools, the teaching staff and administrators, the board and its superintendent. The community didn't trust anyone.

        “Charlie came in when we needed credibility, stability and some vision,” said Anne Crone, who was president of the 1992 Board of Education that hired Mr. Wiedenmann. “He brought all that to us along with wisdom, laughter and a sense of direction, of purpose.”

        Since then a Business Task Force recommended 127 things to streamline operations, 100 of which have been implemented. A 1994 bond issue was approved and paid for construction of two schools, interest-based bargaining has established trust between the staff and administrators/board, and the superintendent meets quarterly with all parent-teacher group representatives.

        “My biggest disappointment has been test scores,” Mr. Wiedenmann says. “We've spent a lot time improving curriculum, buying materials, and training teachers. I think we have a better school district than the scores reflect right now.”

        When asked what he would miss most the answer comes right to mind.

        “Being superintendent you get to know everything that's going on the community. It will be really different not being part of the most important part of what makes up a community — its schools.”

        And in a lighter vein, he says he will have to remember on his own to pick up his children from their activities. He won't have a secretary outside his office reminding him of those chores.

        “I just know I'll miss something or forget to pick up someone.”

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