New RBR Superintendent: Challenge Leads to Academic Success

New Superintendent of Red Bank Regional High School, Jim Stefankiewicz, who takes over the job Friday, was introduced to parents and staff at a Parents Action Committee meeting Wednesday, March 30. Besides Stefankiewiczs' formal introduction, district officials discussed the proposed budget for for the next school year.

The meeting at Red Bank Regional High School in LIttle Silver was more of a homecoming than introduction, actually, for the 43-year-old Stankiewicz. He was principal of Red Bank Regional High School from January 2006 until November 2009, when he left to become assistant superintendent of the Middletown school district.

"I'm so thrilled," he said, quoting the Jon Bon Jovi song, "'Who says you can't go home?' I'm so happy to move back here."

During the informal meet-and-greet that preceded the more formal budget presentation, Stefankiewicz, who lives in Ocean Township, introduced his wife, Kristen, and their 6-year-old son, Grady, to the audience. Grady wore a burgundy-and-white "RBR" shirt proudly.     

The proposed budget -- which residents of Little Silver, Red Bank, and Shrewsbury will vote on April 27 --  is $26.03 million, a decrease of 1.9 percent, or $510,341 from the current year. But because the district has to tap into reserve funds, taxes would increase in each of the three towns who send students to Red Bank Regional High School, according to school officials.

The district has had to draw out reserves more since $525,896 in state aid was eliminated in the middle of the 2009-2010 school year, business administrator and board secretary Christine M. Galvao said.

For a home of average assessed value in Little Silver, $501,857, the increase would be $64.94 for the year.

For the average assessment in Red Bank of $403,697, the increase would be $20.20.

In Shrewsbury, where the average is $398,231 assessed value, the increase would be $48.23.

The tax rate in each town for the high school  is based on a complicated formula that takes into account how many students each town sends and the assessed value of property in the town, Galvao said.

Stefankiewicz said the tax increases would help sustain the innovative programs that have made Red Bank Regional one of the top schools in the state and in the nation.

New Jersey Monthly has rated the high school as the third best high school in Monmouth County, behind Holmdel and Rumson-Fair Haven. Newsweek rates it among the top 6 percent in the country.

Stefankiewicz said that 31 percent of the high school's students are in advanced placement or international baccalaureate classes, compared to an average of 19 percent of students at high schools in the state. Ninety percent of graduates go on to two or four-year colleges, he added.

"Education needs to be about challenge," the new superintendent said. "It needs to be about motivation. It needs to be personalized."

The 19 advanced placement classes and 26 honors courses at the school help the staff do that for students, Stefankiewicz said.

The program where many of the students can choose an "academy" at the school to enroll in after freshman year helps a great deal too, he said.

"If you set low expectations for students, that's not going to get you where you want to go," Stefankiewicz said.

One expense that will be lower for the next three years is the superintendent's salary. Stankiewicz is scheduled to be paid $147,500 a year. Howard Lucks, his predecessor, who resigned Jan. 1, was paid $158,000 a year.

Edward Westervelt, who retired as superintendent in 2009, came back to replace Lucks on a temporary basis until a new superintendent was chosen. Stefankiewicz took the Middletown job when the Board of Education chose Lucks to replace Westervelt instead of him.

Galvao said the budget is lower than the 2 percent cap allowed by the state by $75,000.

In the proposed budget, per pupil cost would decrease by 3.8 percent, or $698 per student.

Bonds issued in 2002 were refinanced at a savings of about $315,000 over the next 10 years, a savings of more than $10,000 a year.

Little Silver, which sends 283 students to the school, 33 percent of enrollment, and pays 32 percent of the tax levy.

Red Bank, which sends 388 students, or 45 percent, pays 44 percent of the tax levy.

Shrewsbury, with 190 students, 22 percent, pays 24 percent of the tax levy.

The tax rate for the high school in Little Silver would be 49 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate in Red Bank would be 38 cents per $100. Shrewsbury would pay 48 cents per $100 of assessed value.

For the full budget presentation, click .