Gary Lubisco Jr. has been appointed Somerville’s new superintendent of schools starting Aug. 1.
Lubisco, superintendent of Manchester Regional High School in Haledon, will receive a starting annual salary of $215,000 under the terms of a contract approved by the Board of Education on Tuesday. His contract runs through June 30, 2029.
Lubisco is replacing Timothy Teehan who announced his retirement in December and his terminal leave began in January. Richard Brokel has been serving as interim superintendent.
Lubisco said he was “very excited to begin the journey” with the Somerville community and said there is “no doubt we can achieve great things.”
He also said he will collaborate with the district staff and community “to foster an environment where every student can thrive.”
School Board President Derek Jess said Lubisco was an “exemplary candidate” out of the 36 names given to district by the New Jersey School Boards Association, which was hired to conduct the search.
Jess, who said he was “very excited” about Lubisco’s appointment, said Lubisco’s references praised his integrity, collaboration skills, communication abilities and was “a leader, not a ruler.”
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Lubisco, a Somerset County resident, became superintendent of Manchester Regional High School in the fall of 2020. The high school has an enrollment of about 850 students from Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park.
Lubisco, a resident of the Martinsville section of Bridgewater, earned a master’s degree in education administration from Kean University in 2011. He is working on a doctorate from Rowan University.
Before coming to the Passaic County district, he was principal of Dunellen’s John P. Faber School, serving pre-K through fifth grade. He started as a middle school social studies teacher in 2001. He also coached football and track and field at high schools in Berkeley Heights and in Dunellen.
Enrollment in the pre-k-12 Somerville district is about 2,100 students. That includes students from Branchburg who attend Somerville High School.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Somerville NJ hires new school superintendent from Passaic County