Jackson School District Superintendent - Tom Gialanella

At the June 19 meeting of the Board of Education, it was announced that the Board of Education accepted the resignation of the Thomas Gialanella, Superintendent/Administration, effective July 1, 2013.

Superintendent Gialanella came to a very different Jackson School District than he is leaving. When he walked through the door to the administration building for the first time as superintendent in November of 2002 the Jackson School District was undergoing record growth, was at impasse with the teacher's union, just opened Crawford-Rodrigues Elementary School, begun the construction on Elms Elementary School and was ready to begin construction on Jackson Liberty HS.

Superintendent Gianella stepped into a growing district with shrinking state funding.  Governor McGreevey had just forzen school funding for the 2002-2003 school year, a policy that continued until 2008.  The result was leaving Jackson with more than 1800 students for which we received no state funding whatsoever.  When the new school funding formula was introduced by John Corzine, the bad news continued for Jackson.  While most districts received increases of 10-20%, Jackson received word that it would receive a meager 2%.  Not being satisfied, Superintendent Gialanella requested Education Commissoner Lucille Davy come to Jackson and face the community.  During her visit  Davy explained that the wealth of Jackson has risen so much that even a 19 percent increase in enrollment didn't qualify the district for anything more than the minimum increase.

When he was hired at the September 24, 2002 meeting, School Board President Kathleen Kelly Mallette commented "Mr. Gialanella brings with him experience, energy and a positive approach that will be an asset to our district". Superintendent Gialanella has indeed been an asset to our community in so many ways. Overseeing construction of new schools, staffing them, adopting new and innovative programs to enhance learning, fostering the school experience by encouraging extracurricular activities and recognizing excellence throughout the district on every level.

When school begins this September it will mark Superintendent Gialanella's 10th year in Jackson. When he leaves the district next June his legacy will be a strong and desirable school district, a decade of accomplished graduates, and a future where all Jackson students can excel.

Shortly the School Board will begin the process of finding a new superintendent. Districts who have recently hired superintendents report an average search time of 10 months.