Kenneth Feacher has retired from OCPS once before. If he hadn’t come back, thousands of OCPS employees and guests would have missed out on his smile, his friendly manner and his deep knowledge of our school district.

Feacher, the garage attendant at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center since 2020, is an example of the indispensability of all of our OCPS retirees.

The more than 264 valued employees who have retired during the 2024-25 school year are the focus at the Retirement Celebration, which will be held June 19 at the Rosen Centre Orlando. Well-wishes for those who have retired can be entered at retirement.ocps.net.
Feacher plans to retire at the end of July, a few weeks after he turns 75. He started out with OCPS in 1995 as a custodian. But that was already his second career.

Feacher, who grew up in Winter Haven, began working at age 13. “My dad was a brick mason. I didn’t want to do that,” he said. He preferred less strenuous, indoor job opportunities. He started out bagging groceries but quickly took an interest in meat cutting. He traveled to Toledo, Ohio, to learn how to butcher and cut meat in a program at Toledo High School.

When he returned to Florida, he ran grocery meat departments through a series of acquisitions and brand name changes, from Piggly Wiggly to Pantry Pride, Bi-Lo, SaveALot and More4Less. He moved to Orange County in 1980. In total, he cut meat for 40 years.

He began working for OCPS as a part-time custodian after he got off work at the grocery store. He eventually increased to full time. He worked at schools including Clarcona, Zellwood and Rosemont elementaries and retired - for the first time - in 2016.  A few years later, legendary maintenance director Rick Pratt called and asked Feacher to come back as a security attendant.

As the most familiar face in the RBELC garage, known to everyone as Kenny, he can typically tell on sight where visitors are headed. And while people are sometimes confrontational, Kenny gives everyone his big smile, even if he’s chasing their car down to tell them they are driving the wrong way.

His boss, building manager Mark Sajeski, said Feacher is humble, experienced and knowledgeable. “He’s always ready to help someone,” Sajeski said. “He starts your day with a smile.”

In retirement, Feacher will be able to dedicate more time to his church, Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, where he is a deacon. He routinely travels to other churches to speak. He’ll also have more time to spend with his wife, four sons and 14 grandchildren in Florida, Connecticut and Ohio.