Karen Bilbao MIDDLETOWN – One of the challenges facing newly named Schools Superintendent Karen Bilbao is handling all 18 schools in the district.
“I consider myself very hands-on, and I like to visit one school every day,” Bilbao said. “The problem is that if I go to a different school every day, it is 17 days until I come back to the first one I was at.”
The Middletown Township School District Board of Education, by a 7-2 vote, officially named Bilbao as the district’s new superintendent on Jan. 23.
Bilbao had been the interim superintendent for the school district since Feb. 16, 2006, and on Jan. 7 of this year she was offered the superintendent’s post by the Board of Education, a promotion that was made official at the board’s meeting.
Bilbao said that she looks forward to continuing the job that she has been performing on an interim basis for almost two years.
Bilbao joined the Middletown School District six years ago as an assistant principal at Middletown High School South, was subsequently appointed district director of pupil services, and then rose to assistant superintendent in 2005.
She said the main issue she will deal with as superintendent of the 18-school district is to ensure that everything is consistent throughout the district.
“We have to deal with issues on pre-K through 12th-grade programs,” Bilbao said. “We have to make sure everything makes sense, that all schools communicate with us.”
Bilbao said she was prepared to deal with whatever the Board of Education decided regarding the superintendent appointment. She was ready to take on the full-time position or go in another direction.
“The matter was at the board’s discretion,” Bilbao said. “I was pretty much ready to do whatever they wanted me to do.”
Board President Dawn Diorio said that Bilbao was the logical choice for superintendent.
“She’s made a positive impact on the current administration,” Diorio said. “She’s put the appropriate staff members in the right positions and was always willing to communicate with any[one] and everyone to help understand her support for their positions.”
Bilbao said that now that she is the full-time superintendent, she and the rest of district administration have a plan for the district that she has been implementing this school year.
“We have a plan to help the district move forward,” Bilbao said. “We are making some changes in the instructional model and are now ensuring that everybody from top to bottom in the district is fully prepared.”
She listed changes in student population, staying current in school practices, and the new funding formula as other issues she will have to deal with.
On Jan. 24, Bilbao met with New Jersey Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy to discuss the formula and its effect on Middletown.
“I met with Commissioner Davy, and we explored and looked at very clearly the effect of the formula,” Bilbao said. “If we continue to [maintain] our specialeducation system, the state will not fund any changes that we make.”
The Middletown School District will be receiving the minimum 2 percent increase under the new funding formula, an increase that, according to Bilbao, doesn’t factor in special education needs.
“The state doesn’t factor in what we have to pay for our special-education programs,” Bilbao said. “We may have to make some changes in the direction we go with it. If we are going to have a positive special-education program, then we want to do it well.”
Bilbao is a former special education teacher and has been the district’s director of pupil services, and believes that that previous experience will help her to steer the special-education program in the right direction.
As superintendent, she succeeds suspended Middletown schools chief David Witmer.
On Dec. 24, Davy ruled that Witmer should be suspended for the remainder of his contract without pay.
Witmer was suspended after being charged by the Board of Education with misappropriating nearly $23,000 worth of vacation and personal time and with knowingly violating his contract while attempting to secure benefits to which he was not entitled, according to board attorney Christopher Parton.
Witmer was originally suspended by the Board of Education at a Jan. 31, 2006, meeting. Soon thereafter, the board filed charges with the state Department of Education.
Diorio said that when the board asked Bilbao to be the interim superintendent, they were confident in Bilbao’s abilities.
“When we came to Mrs. Bilbao and asked her to become the interim superintendent, quite frankly it was the only time I’ve ever seen her speechless,” Diorio said. “After the shock wore off, she hit the ground running, made each decision her own and never acted as an interim. It would have been much easier for her to take her position as a filler, but this was not the case.”
Bilbao said that it is now time to move forward.
“I’m just happy to be able to serve the district,” Bilbao said. “I was asked to serve permanently, and I know it will be challenging, but I love the work. It’s my passion.”