By MELISSA DIPENTO
In April 2007, Dr. Maureen Reusche crossed the bridge to New Jersey and never looked back.
After serving as the assistant superintendent in the Radnor School District from 2003–2007, Reusche accepted the same position in the Cherry Hill School District, supervising the offices of Curriculum, Assessment and Research, Special Education, and Student Services.
After news of Dr. David Campbell’s 2011 retirement became known, Reusche, along with 18 other applicants, applied to the board of education in October, with their eyes set on Campbell’s vacant seat.
The board interviewed seven candidates in January; district and community stakeholders interviewed Reusche and one other candidate in March.
By April, the board had made up its mind and announced Reusche as the district’s next superintendent.
At the June 28 meeting, the board approved the appointment of Reusche as interim superintendent.
“She’s coming into the position with a vision, and we look forward to working with her,” said board president Seth Klukoff.
Her interim appointment will continue until the state Department of Education formally reviews Reusche’s contract and appoints her as superintendent, which Klukoff anticipates will happen later this month, he said.
Reusche said she is glad to have four years of experience in the district already, but says she has much more to learn.
“I came from a smaller district, and I had the opportunity to come to a larger and much more diverse district. The work here was very familiar, but also exciting and new,” Reusche said. “An easy transition in some respects, yes. But others, I caution people not to make assumptions.”
In her previous post in the district, she served in curriculum and instruction, implementing educational programs and curricula in the district’s 19 schools.
Now, she said, she has a much broader scope to consider and said she is excited to get to know the many other facets of the district.
Reusche said there were two main areas she’d like to focus on during her tenure.
“There’s a lot going on in Trenton; the teacher and administrator process and tenure reform. Trenton is of primary interest to us and we will need to pay attention and get involved at the ground level,” she said.
She noted the educational fallout due to the state’s fiscal challenges.
She said the district is charged with asking, “How do we maintain, grow and change when necessary with very limited resources and funding?”
Reusche said the goal is to collaboratively seek alternate solutions to the school funding issues.
Reusche’s calendar is seeing quite a bit of activity these days, with an increasing number of meetings.
So far, she’s met with Sustainable Cherry Hill’s Lori Braunstein to try and stir up more ways the township and school district can work together in the name of sustainability.
She’s met with civic associations and the chamber of commerce.
The business administrators from each entity have also been meeting with the new superintendent to look at ways to create township-wide initiatives.
And she’s been meeting with Mayor Bernie Platt to identify ways the district and township can support one another.
“The board is very much looking forward to working with Dr. Reusche,” Klukoff said. “The main reason she has the job is because she has a great relationship with stakeholders in the district and community. Even during the transition, she’s been building relationships.”
Another goal of the incoming superintendent is to narrow the achievement gap within the schools.
Significant work has been made, she said, but it came during a pivotal point when the district saw many changes.
“It’s a challenging conversation, but we need to find where those gaps are and what are the resources and approaches necessary,” she said.
One major theme she hopes to instill as the district’s leader, she said, is trust.
“I have trust in the teaching and administrative staff. And I believe they have that same level of trust in me,” Reusche said. “We have to embrace challenges. If we can do it in mutual trust and respect, it helps us to focus on the matters at hand.”
Campbell, who served at the helm for five years, said he is confident in Reusche’s abilities to serve as the next leader.
Campbell asked Reusche to join him in Cherry Hill four years ago and said he was pleased with her work.
“This will arguably be a smooth and successful transition. I think she’s well aware of what it takes to be a successful superintendent,” Campbell said. “New Jersey is not an easy state to be a superintendent in, and she has these things: focus, stamina, persistence and tolerance for distractions.”
Reusche credits a supportive board, concerned and caring teachers and professional administrators to her optimistic outlook on what’s ahead.
“Cherry Hill has been a terrific place to work. It’s a challenging time in education. It’s a good place for me to be,” Reusche said.
Reusche’s current contract provides her a $167,200 salary, Klukoff said.
The state maximum for superintendents is $175,000 plus $2,500 for multiple-high school districts, he added.
The DOE will decide Reusche’s new salary once it approves her contract.
