CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — After nearly
40 years in the Cedar Rapids Community
School District’s transportation
department, Director of Transportation
Margaret Hamed will be retiring
at the end of the 2008-09 school year.
Hamed started at the department as
a clerk typist and hadn’t intended on
pursuing a career in transportation.
However, she eventually worked her
way up to the position of safety supervisor
and has now served as director of
transportation for about 25 years.
During her tenure, she says she’s seen
the interstate come through and gravel
roads in her service area get paved, as
well as up to four generations of families
come through her department.
But she says her biggest challenge
came in the past year when the Cedar
Rapids area saw severe flooding
following storms that put nine rivers
across the state at or above historic
flood levels. “We did not lose any of our
equipment, but our district lost a school
building plus all of our administrative
buildings,” Hamed explained. “Finding
the displaced families and students
in such a short window of time was a
challenge. This will probably stand out
in my mind for a long, long time.”
The department transports 6,000
regular-ed, special-ed and non-public
school students.
While June 30 is scheduled to be
Hamed’s last day on the job, she plans
to be available for her replacement to
help out if needed. “I’m certainly not
going to walk away from it because
I have too much of my life invested
here,” she said. “It is my life, and has
been for so long.”
In her retirement, Hamed plans to
spend time with her children and five
grandchildren. “For people in transportation,
it’s more than just the individual.
It really does become a family affair,”
she explained. “I used to joke that I had
other people’s children ready for the
first day of school long before my own,
and usually knew more about what
they were doing. I’m really looking forward
to giving back to my family.”