Maranzano Proud of Legacy Left at Hopatcong

Charles Maranzano isn’t just leaving the Hopatcong School District as its superintendent; he’s retiring from the education profession altogether.

For the last four years, Maranzano served the local district. He restructured and reformed it dramatically. His last day on the job he’s spent four decades in is June 30.

“I’ll be leaving a profession after 40 years; a profession I spent a lifetime in with a leadership role,” he said. “I’ll still be looking to correct a wrong or articulate something positive. This will be bittersweet.”

Maranzano said that he will not only miss the teachers and administrators he saw on a daily basis for years, but also the students he’s formed unparalleled relationships with as time has gone by.

“All of those dynamics, they create the fabric of my every day…it’s the reason you get up in the morning,” he said.

Righting the Ship

Four years ago, Maranzano was brought in to improve the structure of an increasingly waning district. “It was very outdated,” he said about the previous structure. “There was a unique set of challenges, and there was always more work to do.”

After the economic downturn of 2008, Hopatcong could not stay immune from the macro-sized challenges that faced the state.

“We were treading water for a while. But the ship is now sailing in a positive direction,” said Maranzano.

Dealing with state aid issues, the district had to sacrifice personnel immediately, but then began to combat the funding issues with budgetary ideas that would save the district large sums that could be resourcefully focused elsewhere.

So, following up on an original plan by the township to create a solar project at a nearby landfill, the district solicited investors and leased privately owned solar panels to generate upwards of 85 percent of all the schools’ electricity. Now instead of 15-cents per Kilowatt-hour, the district pays five. 

This move, according to Maranzano, will “help save millions for the next 15 years.” The district will then be able to take the extra savings and funnel them into other avenues that will help improve teaching and learning.

However, the superintendent maintains, the state is not following the funding formula, as Hopatcong schools remain one of 447 districts in the state which receives less money than they did four years ago.

“When the state pulled support for public schools, especially in rural areas, it left us reeling,” he said. “We’re coming out of a dark period.”

To also help counter the public school funding revocation, Maranzano was instrumental in helping to formulate a new curriculum.

“Over the past four years, the curriculum has been rewritten to comport with the state standards. We bought entire new sets of textbooks, and now have resources to match the curriculum,” he said.

The process of rewriting, which Maranzano called “horizontal and vertical articulation,” now has each grade level on the same playing field, adept at a new level of learning.

Also during his time in Hopatcong, the superintendent was vital in restructuring the administrative makeup of the district. Four of the five principals were moved, and teachers were “transferred to help meet their certified strengths.”

Along the way, Maranzano used his dissertation skills to help formulate a new teacher evaluation system that will be put in place next year. New policies on Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) were also put into play during his tenure, and he even went to the county level to help teach the nuances of the regulations to other professionals.

Aside from a new focus on the arts, Maranzano also helped introduce “Alert Now” to the district, making snow updates and weather alerts much more accessible and hastily updated.

School-centered Community

Reflecting on a few of his favorite moments in the previous four years, Maranzano spoke about a micro-managed “community” that was formed out of true compassion during Hurricane Sandy.

“The community was brought into the school during the storm,” he said. “Only one month earlier, we had purchased a generator. During Sandy, we became a ‘hotel,’ a micro-community. And it was all based on the strength of volunteerism.”

Maranzano worked beside the Mayor and Town Council to ensure the shelter, of sorts, was smoothly running. Visiting everyday, the superintendent said the school district really poured its heart and soul into the community, which “came out stronger.”

Though his seat will be filled by former Secaucus superintendent Cynthia Randina on July 1, Maranzano sees a bright future in store for Hopatcong.

“The Four-A’s will remain strong: Academics, Activities, Arts and Athletics,” he said. “We just need to marry them, so they’re not isolated, and remain integral and interrelated. But (Hopatcong) is almost like a model school district…the seed is here.”

After leaving, the superintendent, who is also a lifelong musician and member of a Musicians’ Union in New York City, will look to spread his resume in the entertainment industry. Hoping to deal with a lot more performance and arts advocacy, the saxophone player foresees an assuredly fun ‘retirement.’ He already has 30 gigs lined up for the summer, plays with three bands, and looks forward to playing at wine festivals at Demarest Farms in Hillsdale.

Looking back, Maranzano said, “When you write your dissertation, they say it’s like you’ve added a brick on a wall; you take a responsibility for a portion of a whole. And that’s an analogy that makes a lot of sense here.  When I leave the district, I’ll have laid my brick in the wall.”