A new superintendent has been hired at East Stroudsburg Area School District.
During the Sept. 23 school board meeting, the board unanimously approved the hiring of Margaret Vitale.
Board member Rebecca Bear welcomed Vitale before the vote and said she was excited for a fresh start.
“I preface this with, I look forward to working with you and to moving us forward, and to having an having an easy adjustment,” said board member Debbie Kulick before voting yes.
Former Stroudsburg Superintendent John Toleno was fulfilling the position on an interim basis after the board voted unanimously to part ways early with former Superintendent William Riker. His last day was July 31.
After the vote, Vitale stood up and introduced herself to those attending the meeting.
“Thank you for entrusting me with this amazing school district, to leading this school district,” Vitale said. “I truly look forward to working with all of you, so thank you.”
Board President Michael Catrillo pointed out that Vitale is a product of East Stroudsburg Area School District. According to Catrillo, she grew up in Bushkill and went to Middle Smithfield Elementary, J.T. Lambert, and East Stroudsburg High School (now East Stroudsburg South). She went on to be a substitute at various schools within the district before becoming a first grade teacher at Smithfield Elementary, and eventually becoming an assistant principal at J.T. Lambert. Vitale was also a principal at an elementary school in the Stroudsburg Area School District and coordinator of special education at Colonial Intermediate Unit 20. She will be leaving her current position as an assistant superintendent at Abington Heights School District in Lackawanna County to take the superintendent position at ESASD.
“It is really exciting that we have a superintendent that is homegrown,” said Catrillo, who also mentioned that students across North and South High School are taking education courses. “What better example to those students who are studying to be a teacher to say that ‘we have our superintendent who went to school here, went on to be a teacher and is back.’”
“Just super humble that I was entrusted to run this school and lead this community, and excited to be coming home,” Vitale said after the meeting when asked for comment. “I hope to bring strong leadership with effective communication and bring together North and South as one school community.”
Vitale will make $220,000 for the 2024-25 school year. Salary increases of 4% are possible if she receives satisfactory reviews rating on her yearly evaluations. The contract is for five years.
“We’re very excited to have someone who’s homegrown, attended school, graduated from here, began her teaching and administrative career at her district, and we look forward to working with her very positive outlook on these students, and for our future here,” Catrillo said after the meeting.
Toleno, who worked with Vitale at Stroudsburg, said she was going to do an "amazing job" and the district is lucky to have her.
Vitale is expected to start in early December, but no exact date has been set, according to Catrillo.
Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: East Stroudsburg's next superintendent graduated from and taught in the district
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