Brett Culley, the maintenance employee credited with saving a small part of Northwest High School history, has retired after 35 years with the district.
In 1999, the gym floor at the old high school, which is now Valley Middle School, was being ripped out and thrown away, and Culley saved the “N” that used to be featured on the floor, which had been there since 1957.
“I got in the dumpster and dug out all the pieces I could,” said Culley, 54, of High Ridge. “I just thought it was a cool thing to do.”
The “N” is now framed and hangs outside the gym at the high school in Cedar Hill, which opened in 1998.
Culley said the former high school building was closed for the 1998-1999 school year to transform it into the middle school. He said the floor was very old and needed to be replaced.
Ron Hill, the district’s director of facilities, said he was not surprised Culley, a 1985 Northwest High graduate, saved the “N.”
“Brett is truly Northwest,” Hill said.
Culley started working for the district in 1987 as a contracted custodial company, and two years later he was hired as a district employee. His last day on the job was March 31.
He said he enjoyed working for the district and will miss his job.
“I love the district,” he said. “It’s a good place to work, good benefits.”
Hill said he worked with Culley for 21 years and is going to miss his knowledge about district facilities.
“If anybody had a question on plumbing issues or where a water shut off valve was or something like that, everybody always went to Brett,” Hill said.
He said Culley is a locksmith and was certified to operate the district’s water wells.
“If anybody in this district has a key, chances are it was cut by Brett,” Hill said.
Culley said he has enjoyed seeing the district change over the three decades.
“Buildings have changed a lot,” he said. “Buildings are much better now than when I started.”
Before he left, Culley was earning a $54,392 annual salary, said Chuck McPherson, the district’s coordinator of communications and community relations.
McPherson said Culley’s replacement, John Gilbers, was hired Feb. 8 and is being paid $41,932.80 a year.