Panoche School Principal/Teacher Linda Kitman, 51, was killed in
a car accident last Wednesday, just miles down the road from the
tiny country school house where she taught, leaving the 12 students
who attend the school without their teacher of two years Monday
morning.
Panoche School Principal/Teacher Linda Kitman, 51, was killed in a car accident last Wednesday, just miles down the road from the tiny country school house where she taught, leaving the 12 students who attend the school without their teacher of two years Monday morning.
Linda’s husband, Herris Kitman, said ever since the family was on vacation a few years back and visited a small one-room school, Linda had made teaching at one her mission.
“She thought that would be the best way to contribute,” he said.
Last Wednesday, Herris was expecting his wife to get home around 9 p.m., since she had a rural principals’ meeting and in-service in Hollister that afternoon. She never made it home.Unaware of the car accident that killed her around 4 p.m., Herris began to panic when Linda still wasn’t home at 10 p.m.
“I knew she was going to be home late, but when it got to be 10 p.m., I started to go out of my head,” Herris said. “Finally at 11 p.m. I went looking for her.”
Linda never came home that night and the following morning, Herris got a phone call from San Jose Medical Center confirming his worst nightmare.
On her way to the meeting in Hollister, the tire on Kitman’s 2000 Subaru Passport went off the road on the right and caught on the gravel. She swerved to get off the side, lost control and launched off the other side of the road and down a 30-foot embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol. Kitman was alive at the scene and was air lifted to San Jose Medical Center where she later died.
“She died on the job,” Herris said.
County Superintendent Tim Foley is concerned about the students and the tiny, back road community.
“This is obviously a tragedy and an urgent local crisis,” Foley said.
Because Kitman was the only principal and teacher for the 12 students at Panoche School, ages 5 to 13, class was canceled the rest of the week, and when the kids returned Monday, they were greeted by Community Health and Hospice Resource Center grief counselors to help them cope with the loss.
“The grief counselors were there to help the kids make sense of their feelings,” Grief Busters Coordinator Richard Ingles said.
“Grief Busters,” are bereavement counselors trained to work with children and teenagers. They read to the students and helped them develop a list of feelings they were experiencing, which included “sad, shock, disbelief, loss, guilt, uncertainty and nightmares.” The counselors also encouraged the students to express themselves through artwork and write goodbye letters to their teacher.
Eleven-year-old Eddy Jackson drew red hearts and wrote “my heart is shot and sliced. P.S. I’ll never forget.” Jackson said working with the counselors helped him a lot.
“They helped us express our emotions,” he said.
Panoche School District Board member and parent Kim Lippert said half of the kids are doing all right and half are taking the news pretty hard.
“She was pretty close with all of them,” she said. “She spent a lot of time getting some students up to speed. She saw some of the kids more than their own parents did.”
Substitute Luis Candelaria has joined the students and will take Kitman’s place until the school year ends June 11.
Candelaria said he thinks the children are coping well, and Kitman had things so well organized, it won’t be a problem helping the kids finish out the lesson plans.
“I think they’re doing OK,” he said. “They’re all on track as to what they’re suppose to be doing, and I’m just taking it from there.”
Kitman’s contract was not renewed for the 2004-2005 school year, so the school board was already planning on spending the summer choosing a new principal/teacher. Foley said the County Office of Education will assist Panoche School District in the interview process, and he’s confident Candelaria will help the school year end on a productive note.
“We’re very glad to have a solid substitute like Luis to take over in times of tragedy,” Foley said.
Services for Kitman will be held Wednesday, May 26 at 2 p.m., at the Los Osos Valley Memorial Cemetery in Los Osos, Calif. Community members who need help dealing with the loss are encouraged to call the Community Health and Hospice Resource Center at 637-0611.
