Superintendent to step down from post in ’03
Stewart reflects on
decade at the helm
of education
Dr. Sam Stewart
South Brunswick Schools Superinten-dent Sam Stewart will leave the district in 2003.
"It has been a wonderful run. I want to leave while I still love the work," Stewart said Tuesday.
Board of Education members officially received Stewart’s resignation, effective at the end of the 2003 school year, during a closed session last month.
"I’ll still be around here for 14 months to help the district appoint a successor," Stewart said, adding that he and his family plan to remain in the township.
"We intend to be part of the South Brunswick community," Stewart said. "We are looking forward to having my son, Michael, start South Brunswick High School next fall."
Stewart, 65, started working as superintendent for the district in 1992.
Prior to that, he worked in the private sector as a senior vice president for a bank, as a vice president of a staffing company, and as superintendent in Ridgewood for 16 years.
During his tenure, Stewart saw the passage of $100 million in building referendums and the hiring of some 300 new teachers.
Those building plans included the construction of the $52 million high school on Ridge Road and the $47 million construction now taking place in the district.
Voters approved that districtwide building plan in 1999. The plan includes building a new 650-student elementary school at the intersection of Deans Rhode Hall Road and Route 130, converting the Upper Elementary School on Georges Road to a second middle school, and placing an 800 student addition onto the high school.
The new elementary school, scheduled to open in September, will help accommodate the estimated 450 new students who will attend the district.
Stewart also said only two budgets have been defeated in the 10 years he worked in the district.
"It is a very special place to work," Stewart said.
Stewart’s tenure is quite lengthy when one considers state statistics.
In the almost 600 school districts in the state, 43 percent of superintendents have been on the job for two years or less, and only 20 percent of those are past their first year on the job.
"That instability is a concern," Stewart said, explaining that he would like to spend some of his time helping professionals maintain their posts.
"I would like to find a way to help people do the work," Stewart said.
Stewart said that his first years on the job were a rough time with both referendums and budgets being defeated.
"We were struggling to gain a better understanding of the community. I’ve grown to be more comfortable and open with the community," Stewart said.
Stewart said that is the time that a superintendent needs to learn about the community.
"I’ve always believed that my work was a mission to a place," he said, explaining that the profession taught superintendents to move on after three years.
"I never believed in that. It takes time to learn about the community," he said.
Stewart said he is proud of the reputation that the district is getting now, and that it is a team effort.
"I’m just one of a number of people trying to do good things. The young people here are eager to learn. We try to get good mentors, assistants and leaders," Stewart said.
Stewart sees his greatest achievement in the district as maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for the students, and a staff dedicated to high standards of performance in core areas such as English and math.
Stewart said that whoever takes his place should use that early time to gain an understanding of the township and its culture.
"You first must learn and listen. You must try and understand the momentum in the system," Stewart said.
He said it will be important for his successor to keep the energy flowing in the district and remain focused on education.
"No matter how good you are on Friday, you have to open again on Monday," he said.