By Jeff Lipton
The board voted at a special closed meeting on Monday night to hire the 61-year-old Fitzsimons as the Lawrence school district's next superintendent, replacing Dr. Mark Rosenbaum, who has announced that he will retire on July 1, after 11 years with the district.
The decision on the new superintendent had not been made public as of Tuesday morning, because the board was still in negotiations on a contract with Fitzsimons. But one source said it was unlikely that contract issues would stand in the way of the board's hiring him.
The thing is, the board has to work up a contract. It may be a money issue, the source said.
The school board may make the announcement at the Tuesday, April 29 public meeting, after the Herald's press time.
School board president Frank Parise denied on Tuesday morning that the board had made a decision.We're in negotiations, he said. That's the bottom line on that.
I know about him, Dr. Rosenbaum said on Tuesday morning of the board's choice for superintendent, but he was careful not to release his name. I think the district is in very good hands. I am very confident that the board selected someone who is quite competent to assume the leadership of Lawrence Public Schools.
Rosenbaum, who announced his retirement earlier this school term, said he has been an educator for 32 years. I've had a good experience here and it's time to move on and go in a new direction, he said.
[Fitzsimons] is very smooth, very experienced and very knowledgeable. He certainly seems very competent.
Fitzsimons has been superintendent in West Windsor-Plainsboro, in Princeton Junction, N.J., for about five years. The district has about 9,000 students, kindergarten through the 12th grade, and 10 school buildings. Prior to that, he was superintendent of Tenafly schools in Northern New Jersey for about five years and was an administrator in Connecticut schools before that.
He's a dynamic, definitely a hard-working superintendent and he's going to be missed pretty much over here by district students and staff, said Gerri Hutner, a spokesperson for West Windsor-Plainsboro.
He's been an educator, a teacher and has worked his way up through the ranks. He has been an assistant principal, a principal, an assistant superintendent and a superintendent.
She described the West Windsor-Plainsboro district as diverse and high-achieving.
Sources said Fitzsimons has had some difficulty working with the school boards in the districts in which he has served.
There has been some disconnect between him and the school board members in the districts [where] he has worked, said one source.
The board vote was held at a special executive meeting on Monday night after its members went over the qualities and attributes of candidates for the position.
After a lengthy search, the board had narrowed its choices to three: Fitzsimons; Michelle Lineal, Lawrence's current assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and a former Number One School principal; and Dr. Larry Aronstein, assistant superintendent of curriculum for Copiague Public Schools.
Dr. Rosenbaum said he has thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Lawrence school district. My 11 years here have been absolutely wonderful, a learning experience, one that became very meaningful in my professional career, he said.
