Many times during the past several months parents and others may have seen him in the hallways at Johnson Elementary School. Some may have seen him on the construction site for the new school or in attendance at numerous Harrison County Board of Education meetings.

 

Then there are some that have known Anthony Fratto for decades. When you’ve been involved with the education system for 42 and a half years, chances are good that unless you sit all day in a cubicle you’ve met some people.

 

And when you’ve been a teacher, a coach, an assistant principal, a principal and an assistant superintendent, then chance are good you know a lot of people. Anthony Fratto has gotten to know a lot of people.

 

What a lot of people may not know is that today is Fratto’s last day on the job. When he wakes up Wednesday morning, he’ll be retired and celebrating his 65^th birthday.

 

“My present is waking up and not having to go work,” Fratto joked. “The real thing for me was that it was just time. I still enjoy my job as no part is too overwhelming or too hard to do.

 

“It’s someone else’s turn. I’m going to turn off the clock in the morning and go back to sleep if I can,” he continued. “I don’t know if I’ll enjoy that, but I’ll find out. I do know I enjoyed the people I’ve worked with for the last 42-plus years. The good news is I think during all those years I’ve made more friends than enemies.”

 

When Fratto got started in the educational field, he began teaching first and second grade students at Hepzibah School. He’s taught at the middle school level and even did some time at Roosevelt-Wilson High School.

 

“None of the schools I worked with are still operational as far as teaching students if that gives anyone an idea of how long I’ve been around,” he said.

 

Part of his educational experience was here in Bridgeport. In the 1990s, he was an assistant coach to Bob Cline on some very good Bridgeport girls’ basketball teams. He said he enjoyed his time at the school.

 

“I had a good time coaching there and it was a new experience for me because I was used to coaching at a lower level so moving up was interesting. Working with Bob was a lot of fun and I worked with Lindy Bennett and Jim Romeo who were the administrators, which again tells you how long ago that was,” said Fratto. “After that, I was coaching boys and girls at Lumberport.”

 

Fratto taught 27 years in the classroom and worked every grade of students during that time from first through 12. In 2001 he took a job as an assistant principal at Gore Junior High and the Alternative School for Middle School, which were both housed in the same building. Ed Propst, said Fratto, was the principal for both.

 

For three years, he stayed in that role. After that, Fratto spent seven years as the principal at Lumberport before moving into his current role as assistant superintendent for operations for Harrison County Schools.

“That’s the same position I have now,” said Fratto.

 

The position encompasses many things. It covers service personnel, maintenance, facilities, transportation, food service, custodial and occasionally administrative positions such as secretaries, eh said. He also works with the West Virginia Division of Highways, the National Weather Service and surrounding counties on bad mornings to gather information and recommendations to be presented to Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin to determine if school will be canceled or delayed.

 

As far as facilities, Fratto has been involved heavily with two Bridgeport projects. One he got involved with that was started when he began and one that will be finished after he’s gone.

 

“The first main project I was involved with was the new addition at Simpson, which was already started when I started. I worked on that with (Clerk of the Works) Neil Quinn and (Director of Maintenance) Joe Ammons,” said Fratto. “The one big one I was involved with from beginning to end was the new Lincoln Middle School and I was fortunate to be involved with Johnson since its inception. Even though I won’t be there, I’m confident it will be ready when anticipated and will be a beautiful building.”

 

Superintendent Manchin said Fratto has been key in the progress made at Johnson.

 

“For the last couple of years his work has been extremely important to the new Johnson Elementary school. He’s combined with Joe Ammon and Neil Quinn to make sure the project has progressed, and it’s actually progressed smoothly with very few change orders for a project of that magnitude,” said Manchin.

 

As for Fratto leaving, Manchin said it’s a loss for the county.

 

“Anthony’s biggest asset is that he appreciates students, employees and parents and I appreciate how he handles himself. He’s a dedicated and honorable employee. He’ll be missed,” Manchin.

 

While Fratto said he’ll miss a lot of what he does, he’ll keep busy. He knows a few things he’s going to do for sure.

 

“I love spending time with my grandson and I’ll be doing a lot more of that and my wife (Cheryl) has been handling the gardening for many years so it’s time for me to get involved,” said Fratto. “My biggest worry isn’t what to do. I’m actually worried if I’ll be able to go back to sleep after waking up early to check the weather.”

 

Editor's Note: Top two photos show Anthony Fratto at events involving construction of the new Johnson Elementary School, while bottom photo shows Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin.