Saddle Brook Appoints New Schools Chief

The Saddle Brook Board of Education Monday introduced and approved a five-year contract for its new superintendent of schools.

Richard Katz, the current superintendent, principal and director of special services for the Clinton-Glen Gardner School District in Hunterdon County will assume the reins of the district on July 1 at a salary of $157,500. He'll replace the retiring superintendent Kathryn Fedina, who returned to work this week after being out for the past 2.5 months on medical leave. 

Katz, who has held a dual superintendent/principal role in the one-school, 500-student Clinton-Glen Gardner district since 2009, said he chose Saddle Brook for its close-knit community and commitment to improvement.

"I’m in a small community now and that’s something that’s important to me, where you can really build relationships with people, get to know people and effect change," he said. "Also I could just see based on the initiatives that are happening here, the goals that the board sets, the leadership in the district, the commitment to staff development and technology, that Saddle Brook is on the right path and really trying to better themselves and that’s exciting to be able to be a part of that. To be able to work with people who feel the same way."

Katz was a great fit for the district, board president Marilyn Nasello said, because he's looking to stay in Saddle Brook for years to come. 

"For the board, as well as the public, it was really pretty clear that we wanted to really kind of make a commitment and have someone who’s going to give a commitment to our district," she said. "[Katz] was looking for that, we were looking for that and that’s pretty much just exactly where it went.”

Katz, 40, said he's excited to settle down as the schools chief in Saddle Brook after having moved around a bit more than he would have liked throughout his early career.

"I wanted to spend a long time in a district, but sometimes you can’t plan life and things happen one way or another," he said. "But to me, this is definitely a place where I can spend many years."

Katz, who also currently teaches supervision and leadership courses in the graduate program at Montclair State University, holds a bachelor's from Ohio State University, a master's from Montclair State University and a doctorate from Rutgers University. His doctoral dissertation was on the subject of teacher induction, a subject that, along with staff development, he feels is essential to developing high quality instructors.

"Often new teachers get thrown in their first day with the same expectations that seasoned veterans have," he said. "We need to do a good job in making sure that teachers are properly trained and supported and that’s something to me that’s very important...I think making a commitment to [staff development] is probably one of the most important investments that a school district can make."

Even though Katz lives about a half-hour from Saddle Brook, he said parents who believe the district's superintendent should be involved in after-school activities should absolutely expect to see him at sports games and extra curricular events.

"That’s the fun part of the job is being at those things and really being a part of the school," he said. "I don’t want to sit in my office and not interact with people. To be at those events and to be a part of that is the only way to do [build relationships]."

Katz, who has also worked in the South Orange-Maplewood and Randolph school districts, was selected in 2010 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development as one of its 30 Emerging Leaders.

The board chose him from a pool of about 30 applicants that it wittled down to a half-dozen, then four, then two finalists, Nasello said.

She said after interviewing the various candidates, performing reference checks and visiting Katz's school in Clinton, he was the natural choice.

“You know sometimes when you meet someone you just get that comfortable fit that you know he’s going to be right for the district and work well with the team here and the administration and the staff," she said. "He really did. He just fit right in. I think it’s going to be very good for us.”

Katz and his wife of 16 years live in Clark and have an 11-year-old daughter.

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