N.B. superintendent of schools overcomes first-year challenges
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - A major storm with flooding, a lockdown situation at the township high school and a defeated school budget didn't scare off Superintendent of Schools Brian Zychowski.

And that was just his first month.

Zychowski was appointed to the position last April and has witnessed a whirlwind of events over the past year.

"I hit the ground running," he said, "but the rewards outweigh any of the craziness."

After the defeat of last year's school budget, which consumed a significant amount of time and attention, Zychowski was in the midst of finding a new high school principal while dealing with the resignation of the acting superintendent and the business administrator. Yet despite administrative changes and the reorganization of central office, "a nucleus of professional competency remains in tact."

Somewhat related is the examination and updating of district policies, which better organize the rules of conduct. Because of new county compliance standards, Zychowski felt that although the policies were being followed, they needed to be more modernized.

As far as facilities are concerned, the construction projects at the elementary schools and middle school are "on task and on budget" and the district will consider the possibility of redistricting to make bus routes less erratic.

He also noted the association with the township police department in securing grant funding for cameras at the schools and the implementation of an emergency notification system to better alert residents in the event of an emergency.

In regards to curriculum, Zychowski said that there is a reading and writing priority across the K-12 curriculum, flowing both horizontally (same grade teachers communicating with each other) and vertically (teachers from different grades interacting).

There is also the inherited promise of full-day kindergarten that this year's school budget was designed to include.

Although the budget was defeated and the fate of the program is not yet known, Zychowski said this year's budget was another challenge, based on four goals: how to enhance student achievement, taking inventory of all current programs and maintaining the successful ones, funding all state-required mandates and being fiscally prudent.

"The budget provided all of these goals, plus it was the lowest budget in 20 years," he said disappointingly.

Related to all of these issues is creating confidence in the Board of Education and the school district as a whole.

"The board, the district, our stakeholders- we've seen too many revolving doors … and I'm trying to bring a consistent work ethic, a consistent leadership style and I remain steadfast to my commitment to the children, to make a difference for the children," Zychowski said.

The former Clark Township superintendent said he is not trying to import his own vision to the district, but is instead trying to create a shared vision involving all of the community stakeholders.

"Whether good or bad, we had to get a hold on it and we had to set up the opportunity to exchange ideas so that people could voice their concerns and prioritize what they wanted in the district," he said.

The major future goal Zychowski has set in place is to reconnect the stakeholders of the district, of which a five-year strategic planning process is one component.

"I hope the one common link we continue to improve upon is to make the educational system the primary focus," he said. "Strategic planning gives the end gain, so we need to align the goals to that end gain."

Coming in June is what Zychowski calls the "review preview," where the successes of the current goals are reviewed, and the steps to move forward are previewed.

He also wants to guarantee that North Brunswick is both a great place to live and a great place to work. He said when employees are satisfied, they do a better job, and then results are better.

"They're doing a great job here," Zychowski said of his district-wide staff. "I don't think the district gets enough credit because of the changing streams of the population and the demographic shift in a 10-year period, and they're still able to produce."

Zychowski was a high school history teacher and a longtime coach of boys and girls basketball, softball and soccer. He later became an athletic director, a vice principal and then a principal, retaining the title of superintendent for eight years.

"The most rewarding thing is to work with people who share the same passion of working with children," he said.

All in all, Zychowski is looking forward to his future with the district.

"I left a great place in the district, I grew up in the next town, and I am still grateful to have this opportunity to be here in the community of North Brunswick," he said.