Parsippany Public Schools Welcome Interim Superintendent

The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education announced Tuesday that Dr. John Fitzsimons of New York is on the job as the district's new interim superintendent of schools through April 23, 2014. Residents get their first chance to see the new superintendent in town at Thursday's school board meeting, which takes place at Littleton Elementary Schoolat 7:30 p.m.

Technically, Fitzsimons is now acting superintendent, according to his contractl he gets the interim title on May 15, the .

The contract stipulates that the new schools chief will receive $682 per day for the job, or a total of $177,320; with the potential achievement of unnamed "quantitative and quantitative" benchmarks, he could make nearly $204,000 for the year.  

Fitzsimons' resume shows he holds a Ph.D. from Fordham University and has spent 26 years as a public school superintendent in Connecticut, New Jersey and, most recently, New York, where he resides. In addition, he has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Education and a presenter for the American Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Association of School Administrators, and the National Council of Teachers of English.

The longtime educator has also served as a faculty and board of directors member of the National Principals Leadership Institute since 1998.

Parsippany's new interim superintendent has a list of professional writing credits: Working as an educational consultant over the past two years, Fitzsimon's works have appeared in the publications "The School Administrator," "The School Administrator, Front Line, My View" and "EdWeek."

A district statement included statements from former co-workers who praised Fitzsimons' skills in dealing with "issues vital to effective education," called him "a goal-oriented administrator with exceptional interpersonal skills," and "a true leader in every sense of the word."

The statement also noted the interim superintendent's history as an innovator in education who came up with a high school unit lunch program that enables clubs to meet and allows students to use the afternoon meal time as an opportunity to meet with teachers, administrators and counselors for guidance and academic support; created and implemented a fine and performing arts academy; designed and implemented construction projects for a new high school, middle school and elementary school; established school instructional councils to enhance overall quality of instruction and staff development programs; improved curriculum programs through expansion and implementation of advance placement programs; significantly increased instructional time through successful contract negotiations with a teachers’ union; developed and implemented a district-wide technology program that enhanced the educational program and provided greater efficiency in the administration of all district programs and provided staff development activities that focused on staff performance expectations and student achievement.

"The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education is confident that Dr. Fitzsimons will support the quality of education while maintaining a close scrutiny of the day-to-day operation of the district," the statement concluded.