New Brick Schools Super to be Introduced
Official intro will come at Thursday's regular meeting
Dr. Walter Uszenski will make his formal Brick debut this week.
The township resident, who has been selected as the Brick school district's new superintendent, will be introduced to the community at Thursday's regular meeting of the township Board of Education.
Uszenski, 60, currently serves as superintendent of the Spotswood school district in Middlesex County. He was appointed superintendent in Brick late last month. He will officially take over in Brick Aug. 1.
In a brief interview with Brick Patch the night he was appointed, Uszenski said his specialities have been in the areas of curriculum and community outreach.
"My dream has always been to have my capstone. I've felt that being a Brick leader would be my dream come true," he said.
Uszenski will replace current Superintendent Walter Hrycenko, who will revert to the position of assistant superintendent, the last position in which he holds tenure. The current assistant superintendent, Patricia Lorusso, will be bumped to the position of principal, her last tenured position.
Uszenski's four-year contract in Brick calls for him to earn $175,000 per year, the maximum allowed under state law for a district Brick's size.
Thursday's meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Brick Township High School.
Chief Wahoo
9:33 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wecome to bricktucky where for your $175,000 you will grauduate future Walmart and McDonalds employees
Lil'DragonMom
10:19 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
How disappointing to hear you say that. If that is all the community, families and peers of the students expect from these kids, then that is all they will aspire to be. When we first moved here, that is not what the buzz about the school district was. As we are now here a few years, I do hear these negative things. Maybe you should attend a BOE mtg and make some suggestions so that these kids can have more educational opportunities available to them. My kids are still at the elementary level, and I have seen some great new programs go in. Maybe if the community gets more involved and we get some consistent leadership, we will see an improvement in our district.
Daniel Nee
11:34 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I'm a lifelong resident of Brick as well and it's no secret that confidence in our school system is not what it should be. There has always (going back many years) been the concern that academics has played second fiddle to sports, etc., and I'm going to try to address that in a frank way. The recent school report cards shed some light on a few of our issues and I'm planning on addressing them here.
Interestingly, Dr. Uszenski told me last month when I spoke to him briefly that his areas of expertise have been in advancing things like honors programs, AP classes, more cohesive math curricula, etc. So I'm planning on going in depth a little more on that, too, once he's officially on the job here.
JD
11:40 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Problem is... to many cuts over the past 10 years or so... due to retirees voting down the budgets.
Wait till intermediate school whereby classroom sizes are 28!!!
The district is at bare bones... and as a result Brick is NOT an attractive town to move to if you have school aged children... that is part of the reason Brick home values have decreased moreso than the surrounding areas.
Retirees don't care about thier home values... they don't intend on moving... so their only concern is how much taxes do they have to pay!!!
Joseph Woolston Brick
9:55 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
In our BTHS yearbook( this was around the time the wheel was invented) we had a senior will feature, we were all asked to write a little blurb. When the yearbooks came out, one of the blurbs which was kind of funny and some what true, went like this. "I leave Brick Township High School with enough education to pump gas at Hess". It provided a nice laugh and I was surprised they even printed it, but remember this was when it was still fun to live in NJ and wasn't patrolled by the politically correct numskulls we have today. I myself received a pretty good education in Brick schools and went on to make a nice living, I'm no Donald Trump, but get by. One thing that struck me funny was, that blurb was written by one of the Gods of the Brick Green Dragons. Interesting don't ya think?
KC
2:17 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Dragon Mom, I think the Chief is referring to the fact that there is no real employment here in Brick Township. I never took any issue with the school system and honestly think our educators by and large do an excellent job with a really low ball budget. Just be prepared for the reality that your children will one day be older and forced to leave the township for employment in such places as NYC, Philadelphia, Boston and DC. No substantial job base exists in Brick or in most of Ocean County for that matter.We who have lived here longer have become a little cynical of the politics that has a strong hold on most local school districts. These include unfair hiring practices.
Reality
7:48 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
JD - I have news for you - the class size at VMMS is way over 28 for one segment of students. The Pre-Algebra and Algebra classes at VMMS routinely have 32-35 students per class. And, these students have that number of classmates in ALL their core classes besides math -- English, History, and Science.
Not to worry though, if your child consistently performs poorly on standardized tests and the now required year-end exams, he will benefit from much, much smaller classes with much more individualized teacher attention.
JB
9:13 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
This forum is no negative and anti-education.
We need to promote education and the schools in this community.
Now is a great time to start, with a new Supt. about to begin his tenure here.
This a great community with friendly people. Let's value education and support our schools.
JD
2:51 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Yeh.... say that to the senior citizens who vote and go to BOE meetings!!!
Lil'DragonMom
11:04 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012
KC... I want my child to be educated so that they have the choice to leave and go to NYC or to stay and work for themselves. It doesn't bother me that they may have to travel a bit for work. I was not born and raised here, so it is not my expectation that my child have to stay here....it would be their choice, depending on the career path they choose. I don't want them to just get through school and only be skilled enough to have to work at McDs. As long as my child is educated and has the skills and tools necessary to contribute to the work for and be financially comfortable...I am ok with them leaving to get a job. Many people in town commute to NYC. If that is where my child gets employeed, they can always come home for a weekend visit, or commute. I think we may see some positive changes with the new admin and more parents are expressing concerns. If more parents keep academics a high priority and place sports as a secondary compliment to the child's educational experience, we may see the change many of us want.
JD
2:53 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
If the parents don't go to BOE meetings... don't speak at BOE meetings... don't vote for the "right" BOE members....
you are going no where with that...
the BOE cowtails to the senior citizens... who show up at BOE meetings... who speak at BOE meetings... who vote!!
Lil'DragonMom
4:11 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
That is correct...if the parents do nothing they should expect nothing. But some might step up and attend, at the very least, they will vote. And the new super has a strong background in community and curriculum, so that could prompt more parents to start getting involved.
bella
4:16 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
I would like to know if anyone has heard of Brick Bd of Ed. cutting custodial and cafeteria staff.