OCEANSIDE -- School Superintendent Ken Noonan said Friday he thought he'd cruise through his last day on the job. Not so.

Instead, he spent most of the day doing "real business. … It's been a busy one," he said at midday. His morning was filled with tying up loose ends, following up on questions from staff and answering phone calls.

After 40 years in education, with the last 10 in the Oceanside Unified School District, Noonan said he was looking forward to 4:30 Friday afternoon when he would walk out the door for the last time.

"After that, I'm home free," he said. "My wife is delighted."

Although he's retiring from his leadership role locally, Noonan will serve two more years on the state Board of Education, a spot he was appointed to by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005. After that, Noonan said, "it will be up to the governor" whether to tap him for another term.

Noonan said Friday that he also plans to stay involved in seeking solutions to the gang problem that has plagued Oceanside in recent years. He called the community's inability to resolve the issue one of his greatest disappointments "because it affects the school as well as all of us."

"A lot of good people are working on this," Noonan said. "I don't want us to wait for the next tragic shooting to do something about it."

When it comes to memorable moments in his career, he said, there are several in Oceanside. Those include handing a diploma to a 2007 graduate who overcame extreme odds to graduate from El Camino High School and hearing a child say he was happy he learned English because it helped him understand his cartoon shows.

He says one of his biggest achievements at Oceanside Unified was the eventual rise in standardized test scores, which began after the district dropped bilingual education and started its English immersion approach. Within three years, the district's scores for students with limited English proficiency had outpaced those from other schools in the state.

That strict enforcement of a state law banning bilingual classes drew not only media attention but also the ire of activists and some parents in the late 1990s. It also prompted a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The department initially found problems on the part of the district, but Oceanside was eventually cleared.

Noonan said Friday that had been skeptical of eliminating bilingual classes, but that "being wrong was the best thing that could have happened. Changing my mind made a difference for the kids."

He said he also will hold fond memories of the passage of the $125 million bond measure that enabled Oceanside Unified to renovate many of its schools and build three more.

"It was hard work. … It gave us a rekindled confidence that our school district was worth the investment," Noonan said.

Now, he added, it will be up to his replacement, Larry Perondi, -- the deputy superintendent appointed Tuesday by trustees to fill Noonan's seat -- to lead the charge on a possible new bond to do work at 10 other schools. He also said he hopes Perondi can lead the schools to the point where all 24 schools are recognized for meeting state standards. So far, 15 have earned that California Distinguished Schools honor.

Noonan said that among the memories he won't recall fondly are the 2006 immigration protests when thousands of North County students walked out of schools.

He criticized the adult activists who organized the protests, saying they "used kids in the most merciless way. … It wasted two days for kids who didn't have the time to waste," he said. "I was disappointed and angry."

The disruptions, which included an incident at Oceanside High School where students threw rocks at police officers, had a lot of carryover. he noted.

"Students were angry … it opened wounds for a long time," he said.

Now, though, it's on to creating happier and new chapters in his memory book -- travel and editing the first draft of a novel he's been working on for several years.

He'll start immediately, heading off to a lake in northern Colorado with his wife of 40 years, children and grandchildren for a week celebrating his retirement.

Contact Staff Writer Kathy Day at (760) 901-4000 or kday@nctimes.com.