Jackson Administrator Will be New Emma Havens Young Principal

Brick Township Board of Education/Schools (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The Brick school district has hired an assistant principal from the Jackson Township school district to be the new principal at Emma Havens Young Elementary School for the 2017-18 school year.

The hiring raised some eyebrows in the district since the administration chose an out-of-district hire instead of promoting from within. The new principal, David Kasyan, will earn $135,225. Kasyan is the son of Frank Kasyan, who has served as superintendent in Little Egg Harbor and, most recently, Manasquan. The elder Kasyan was previously an administrator in Brick.

“I’m assuming that we didn’t have any qualified people in the district?” asked resident Vic Fanelli, questioning why Brick did not promote from within.

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“We went through a pretty rigorous process, interviewed many, many people and we had three levels of interviews with five central administrators,” said Interim Superintendent Dennis Filippone. “I’ve always believed that if you have equal candidates from inside and outside, you choose the inside candidate, but when you get a candidate that, in my opinion, was superior to any of our inside candidates, I don’t think it would be appropriate not to choose the best candidate.”

“We seem to be getting an awful lot of people from Jackson Township, is that where we do our recruiting?” asked Fanelli.

Fanelli was then cut off by Board President John Lamela, who himself is employed as a school administrator in Jackson. 

“I don’t care where people are from. We like our Brick kids,” said Lamela. “We do hire the best, to put the best in front of these kids, because that’s what I value.”

“Jackson is not an issue for me; the most highly-qualified and best candidate is, and that’s who we hire,” said Lamela.

Kasyan will replace Patricia Lorusso, the current Emma Havens Young Principal and former district assistant superintendent, who has decided to retire.

Emma Havens Young is not the only school to be introducing a new administrator next school year. Donna Stump, a longtime district employee who has been a special services administrator, will shift to assistant principal at Lanes Mill Elementary School at a salary of $143,002.

Stump will move from her current position of Supervisor of Special Services. Filippone said Stump was chosen for the role because there is a significant need for an administrator with special education experience at Lanes Mill.