Retired Parsippany Schools Superintendent Appointed to Interim Post

What’s old is new again.

After more than two months of tumult in the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District, the board of education has gone back to a friendly face and appointed Dr. LeRoy Seitz as its interim superintendent.

Seitz served as the district’s schools chief from 2006 to 2013 and retired when Governor Chris Christie’s superintendent salary cap was imposed. The legislation would have given Seitz an annual paycheck of $175,000, a massive decrease from his former salary of more than $210,000.

In a statement from the board of education, Seitz was well regarded:

Dr. Seitz is a proven leader who shares the vision of the Board of Education that academic excellence is a top priority for the school district and in order to achieve that you must be positive and supportive of students, parents, and staff in everything you do. Dr. Seitz knows Parsippany well and is liked and respected by the staff and community.

He has a proven track record with our district including reorganization of the Technology Department, the deployment of wireless in all schools; teacher tablet and iPad Programs; and a successful Referendum to renovate seven of our over-crowded school buildings. He is a goal-oriented administrator with exceptional interpersonal skills. He is a true leader in every sense of the word. Dr. Seitz will serve as Interim Superintendent while the Board conducts a search for a permanent superintendent. The Board will be discussing a timeline for the permanent search.

The permanent search process will offer multiple opportunities for community stakeholder engagement.

Seitz steps in for his successor, Scott Rixford, who abruptly announced his resignation earlier this school year after a scheduling issue displaced more than 1,000 middle school students from classes for the first five weeks of the school calendar. Rixford has only spent one full school year in the position.