Schools

Madison Tabs Roxbury's Rossi as Schools Superintendent

New district chief to be introduced at BOE meeting Thursday.

The Madison Board of Education has hired Roxbury Schools Superintendent Michael Rossi as its new schools superintendent.

The appointment was made public on the Board of Education's website Wednesday.

Rossi, 46, who signed a five-year contract through July, 1, 2016 for the state-capped maximum salary of $157,500, will be formally introduced at the BOE meeting Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Madison High School.

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Prior to taking his post at Roxbury in 2008, Rossi had worked as superintendent of schools for the Lopatcong School District. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Seton Hall University, a Master of Arts in Social Science from Montclair State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University. Rossi also earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Moravian College, according to information on the Roxzbury district website.

"Dr. Rossi was the ideal candidate for Madison," said Board of Education President Lisa Ellis in an interview. "We were looking for someone with superintendent experience, that was very important. We also wanted someone who is very focused on education and curriculum. He thinks outside the box, is an innovator, and is able to come up with creative education initiatives. He has very interesting ideas about how the district can raise money, for instance, through profesional development programs. Even though he is moving down a couple of thousand students at Madison, we are going to give him the opportunity to come in and do great stuff here."

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Rossi did not immediately return calls for comment.

At the meeting, the panel will also vote on the tentative 2011-12 schools budget at that time, and plans a series of public forums to discuss the budget process.

While the board has been tight-lipped about the identity of the new superintendent, one member said the hiring of Rossi could advance the prospect of Harding Township and Madison sharing some education services.

“[Rossi] is a good fit for Madison,” said James Novotny, president of the Harding school board who also serves as a liaison to the Madison board. “Now we can look at what we can do regarding sharing of services.”

Harding, which has been looking to hire a new super, had until now resisted overtures by Madison to share a superintendent. Harding students attend Madison High School.

Novotny said Rossi “wanted to come to the district, wanted the job as much as we wanted hire him, and brings the skills set needed to not only manage as an administrator, but to also move the district forward.

“My hunch is we are going to see more collaboration, more synergies, between the districts,” he said, without being specific. Harding manages a schools budget of $8.3 million.

Harding in January named school district business administrator James Mankiewicz as interim superintendent while it continues to interview candidates.

BUDGET VOTE SCHEDULED

The Madison board on Thursday will adopt a tentative 2011-12 budget, board president Lisa Ellis said in an e-mail to the district Tuesday. “This preliminary budget will reflect the anticipated revenues and include expenditures to meet these projected revenues. This will be the compliant budget that by law needs to be sent to the office of the Executive County Superintendent by March 4th. The board will not yet be in a position on Thursday night to review specific proposed cuts.”

The state last week announced that it would restore $346,732 in education aid to Madison, which has a schools budget of around $34 million. “This represents a mere fraction of the aid the district is entitled to under the existing state school funding law,” Ellis wrote. “Every penny in state aid is welcome but it is very difficult to be overly appreciative of this limited restoration in light of the difficult choices we will be facing as we attempt to close a budget gap of approximately $1 million dollars this year.”
 
Ellis said that closing this gap “will be a difficult and painful process but over the course of the next few weeks, the board will continue to review the budget and make adjustments to this preliminary budget as necessary in order to present the final budget at the public hearing on March 28th.”

The forum schedule:

Thursday, March 3, 2011                  BOE meeting - adopt tentative budget - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, March 8, 2011                    Kings Road School PTO Meeting – 8:45am
Wednesday, March 9, 2011              High School PTO Meeting - 7:00 pm
Thursday, March 10, 2011                Budget Forum – MHS Media Center – 7:00 pm
Monday, March 14, 2011                   Torey J. Sabatini School PTO Meeting - 8:45 am
Tuesday, March 22, 2011                  Budget Forum – MHS Media Center – 7:00 pm
Tuesday, March 29, 2011                  BOE Meeting - adopt final budget - 7:30 pm
Thursday, March 31, 2011                Madison Junior School PTO Meeting - 7:30 pm
Monday, April 4, 2011                       Central Avenue School PTO Meeting - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, April 6, 2011                 Budget Review – MJS Media Center, 9:00 am
Wednesday, April 20, 2011              Budget Review – MHS Media Center, 7:00 pm
 


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