New Leader Brings Broad Experience to HCVSD

FLEMINGTON – The incoming leader of Hunterdon County Vocational School District will bring broad and impressive experience to the job when he formally starts July 1. Dr. Todd Bonsall will take the reins from Kimberly Metz, Ed.D. after she retires from the position she has held for 12 years.

Bonsall emerged as the top choice from an extensive superintendent search that the Board of Education launched in December 2018. The search began with community forums to seek broad input about the district’s next leader. School board members specifically aimed to continue the path of improvement and expansion that Metz chartered.

Since 2014, Bonsall has served as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Burlington County Institute of Technology. Like HCVSD, that county-run district operates with different campuses, but unlike HCVSD, it owns school buildings that are dedicated specifically to vocational education. Bonsall played a key role there in integrating an academy approach to Career and Technical Education (CTE), similar to HCVSD’s recent evolution and future aspiration.

Bonsall has transitioned between careers the same way many HCVSD high school students will do and many Adult and Continuing Education students are doing. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Albright College, where he was honored in April with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Bonsall also earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a doctorate in chiropractic from National College of Chiropractic. He practiced chiropractic medicine for 12 years before joining a College of New Jersey immersion program to earn a master’s degree in educational leadership. In addition, Bonsall recently was recognized nationally by SkillsUSA as an Outstanding CTE Educator.

He taught biology and physical science at a traditional public high school before moving into the administrative level for the vocational school districts of Salem, Cumberland, and Middlesex counties. Along the way, Bonsall developed a passion for CTE and its hands-on, career-focused style of instruction. At his most recent position, Bonsall established programs that were strongly tied to workforce needs, including a new Advanced Manufacturing and Fabrication pathway. He led the infusion of drone technology into several career majors, and the expanded use of virtual and augmented technology.

Bonsall has already participated in several HCVSD board meetings as part of his segue to the superintendent’s position.

“I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen in the Hunterdon County Vocational School District. That confirmed my reasons for wanting to take the lead at this stage of its growth, as we explore the possibility of becoming a full-time CTE school like the other 20 counties in New Jersey,” Bonsall said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to learn more and to do more at the Bartles and Central campuses, as well as the other host site academies where CTE programs are preparing students for bright futures.”

Metz has worked in the education field for 32 years, the past 12 of them as HCVSD superintendent. She is recognized as the leader who expanded the school district from one school to five, providing greater opportunities for Hunterdon County residents to earn industry credentials, licensures, and college credits. In the last five years of her tenure as Superintendent, Metz successfully competed for more than $3 million in grants expanding Career and Technical Education in the county. Metz will retire on June 30, 2019.

Hunterdon County Polytech Career and Technical School is the largest component of Hunterdon County Vocational School District (HCVSD). Polytech is the district’s shared-time high school that prepares students for a seamless transition to college and career paths. HCVSD also operates an Adult and Continuing Education school and three science-based high school academies: the Biomedical Sciences Academy, the Computer Science and Applied Engineering Academy and the Environmental Sustainability and Engineering Academy. Learn more at www.hcvsd.org.

All pupils will be given equal opportunity for enrollment in programs operated by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, or socioeconomic status (34 C.F.R. Part 100, Appendix B, Section IV-A). No qualified handicapped person shall, on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity which receives federal financial assistance, et seq (34 C.F.R. Part 104.4(a)(b).