EDISON – John DiMuzio has been very busy.
Although he has been acting superintendent of Edison’s school district for only a month and a half, his schedule is already nearly filled to the brim. Having spent the opening weeks of his tenure fine-tuning the $52 million school construction proposal, he says he has already lined up meetings with the myriad parent-teacher groups to discuss the proposal, and hopefully shore up support.
“I think I know the district. I’m already setting up with every PTAand PTO that is going to be part of the referendum to meet with them; I’ve reached out to them. Next week I’ve got a meeting with my principals to discuss the referendum with them,” said DiMuzio.
Also on the agenda are plans to meet with parents and teachers at Menlo Park Elementary School and Martin Luther King Elementary School, places parents have said are especially suffering from overcrowded classes, and to review a potential new Web site for the district.
All this is on top of managing the dayto day concerns of the township’s schools.
“I think a superintendent has to be visible,” DiMuzio said. “Asuperintendent has to be able to meet with people. I think the attitude a superintendent has is that he is the chief school administrator, OK, but he has to be able to have an administration that will work with him and have a team of supervisors and principals that can come to me about the problems that they perceive, and I’m open to that.”
DiMuzio has had to hit the ground running ever since his appointment just moments after the narrow decision to place his predecessor, Carol Toth, on paid administrative leave during a Nov. 19 Board of Education meeting. DiMuzio was formerly the director of personnel for the district. The circumstances behind Toth’s absence and DiMuzio’s promotion had become the subject of controversy among residents, especially during his first public meeting in his new position, with some commenting that they don’t know who he is or what his qualifications are. He believes that when his record in the district is revealed, it should prove that he is very qualified to serve as the chief administrator for Edison’s schools.
He not only grew up in the township, having graduated from Edison High School in 1962, he still lives there, making his residence on Inman Avenue. His parents also reside in Edison. He is married with four grown children and notes that he would not have been able to do what he is doing without their support. He is also an avid golfer, and two golfing trophies sit on his office windowsill.
He received his undergraduate degree at Missouri Valley College and hismaster’s degree from Kean College. He received anothermaster’s degree fromMontclair State, this time in health and physical education. He also possesses certification qualifying him for work as both a school principal and a district superintendent. He began teaching inMarch 1969 at Herbert Hoover Middle School and went on to J.P. Stevens High School the following September. It was there that he taught for 15 years, becoming the chair of the health and physical education department in three years. In 1984, he moved on to work at the central office, first as a supervisor and then as a director. He underwent a brief stint as principal of Herbert Hoover Middle School before becoming director of personnel in 1998.
He said that a major accomplishment achieved during this time was the successful organization of the job fair, from which about 80 percent of the district’s incoming teachers come every year. He noted that other districts had tried to do this, with mixed results. Combining this with an exhaustive review and orientation process for prospective new teachers, he was able to hire and equip quality teachers during his tenure there, DiMuzio said.
“We have instituted a staff development program that starts in August [each year], and they are also a part of that, so they are not coming in September cold with us. They have had staff development and a chance to meet with the principals at their schools and to go to their rooms and work in it. I think the goal as director of personnel is to give our candidates that we hire all the info they require to be a good teacher with us,” said DiMuzio.
He is coy when asked about how his style will differ from Toth’s, noting that he doesn’t like to dwell too much on such matters. He said, though, that he is the most experienced person in the district, citing a longer track record than any other employee there, which he says gives him the experience necessary to effectively manage the district.
“I never talk about predecessors. I always go forward. … I have been up here longer than any other individual in this [central office] building,” said DiMuzio.
He noted that he has worked for the district in some capacity at every single level, from elementary to high school, from teacher to principal. Meanwhile, his position as personnel director has allowed him to meet virtually everyone who has come into the school, and that on average he has met 125 to 130 new people each year.
At the moment, his priority lies with getting the budget passed and addressing overcrowding at the schools, issues that are closely linked.
“Two referendums have failed and two budgets have failed, which has us in a position right now where I’m running out of rooms. … I’d think, hopefully, the people would see we are trying to provide the best possible education for the kids in an atmosphere that is conducive to learning. I don’t want to see 28, 29 [students per class] at an elementary level. I’d try to keep it to 25 or less, if I could, but if budgets keep going down, I won’t have the space,” said DiMuzio.
Another priority DiMuzio wants to focus more on is technology. He said that if the budget passes, $1 million would be put into various upgrades.
He would like to have an open relationship with district employees and the public, and he noted that he isn’t the type of person to not call people back.
“My mind is on being able to reach out to the community and to maintain contact and good relations with the people who either e-mail me or call me. I’ll get back to you. I’m not the type of person who is not going to get back to you. It might not be the same day, but I will get back to the people,” said DiMuzio.
Toth had been acting superintendent before ascending to the position fully, and her contract was renewed in 2006. When asked about whether something similar will occur with him, he said that it’s not up to him.
“That would be up to the board,” DiMuzio said.