SAYREVILLE – Following more than two decades of service to the Sayreville School District, a district administrator is retiring from her position.
At a recent meeting, the Board of Education honored the retirement of Karen Waranowicz, the district’s student information systems manager. Her retirement will become effective by the start of the 2019-20 school year, on July 1.
According to Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe, Waranowicz, who had been a student in the district, has served Sayreville since 1997.
“Her expertise in technology, data management and reporting and her positive spirit will be missed by colleagues across the district,” Labbe said. “Karen’s first experience with the Sayreville Public Schools was as a student and later as a parent when she sent her children through the school district, some of whom have followed her in her footsteps in becoming technology leaders for the Sayreville Public Schools.”
Waranowicz’s career in public education began in 1994 when she worked as a technology specialist responsible for general technology maintenance, record-keeping and state reporting at the Milltown School District, according to Labbe. She joined Sayreville in 1997 as the attendance secretary at Sayreville Middle School and remained in this role until 2000 when she transferred to the district’s technology department as an information technology support technician and student information systems coordinator.
Labbe said Waranowicz transitioned to student information system manager in 2004 where she will remain until her impending retirement.
“Over the years, Karen has worked with countless systems and trained decades of staff members, as well as collaborated with numerous administrators and support staff,” the superintendent said. “Her evaluations are filled with accolades describing her constant ability to exceed the scope of her job and masterfully producing flawless reports and records. Karen not only grew with technology as it changed in the past 20 years, but she became a technology leader, both in the district and the state, as well as professional circles within her industry.”
Described by Labbe as constantly striving for perfection, Waranowciz was awarded the 2006 Student Management Solutions Person of the Year.
“One of Karen’s prior supervisors, Carla Sutherland, reflected on how the number of state, federal and local reports and responsibilities that Karen was responsible for continually grew,” he said. “Yet her drive for perfection has never been surpassed by the increasing complexities and detail of those reports and responsibilities through the years. In fact, Ms. Sutherland recalled that during her tenure, Karen never had an error on a state report submission. And since I’ve been here, I haven’t seen that either.”
Labbe also credited Waranowicz with helping oversee the most recent student information system management migration, which was the fourth that she has been involved with.
“Karen’s legacy in the district will be felt for years to come as her meticulous record-keeping and data management will continue to be reflected in district operations,” Labbe said. “Additionally, the staff whom Karen has trained and worked with will continue to strive to reach the level of perfection that Karen established as the norm for technology information systems in our district. On behalf of all the students and staff in the Sayreville Public Schools, we thank Ms. Waranowicz for her outstanding service and more importantly, for the indirect and direct impact she has made on all of our students and staff during her very long career.
“Having had the opportunity to work closely in the same building with Karen for the past five years, I’m going to miss so much about her,” he continued. “I’m going to miss getting a New Jersey Department of Education broadcast memo where they’re asking for a report and her replying within minutes that it’s already done. To go even further, I think what I’m going to miss the most is her smile. Every time that I saw Karen, she beamed with that wonderful smile that only she has. We wish her the absolute best.”