Lawrence Township Public Schools Board of Education approves five-year contract for superintendent of schools
Robyn Klim, the Lawrence Township Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, has been appointed to succeed Superintendent of Schools Ross Kasun as the school district’s next superintendent.
The Lawrence Township Public Schools Board of Education appointed Klim to her new post at its June 28 meeting. She will take on her new duties Sept. 1, following Kasun’s retirement.
The school board approved a five-year contract with Klim, beginning Sept. 1 and ending June 30, 2028. She will be paid $225,000 in the first year of her contract, which will be pro-rated for the 2023-24 school year. Kasun was paid $240,894.22 for 2022-23.
Klim will receive a three percent salary increase in each of the four remaining years of her contract. She will receive 13 sick days, 25 paid vacation days and up to five personal days.
Klim thanked the school board for choosing her to replace Kasun.
“I know this place is super special,” she said.
Kasun was pleased with the school board’s decision to hire Klim to succeed him. He said the school board “could not have chosen a better person and leader” than Klim.
School board president Patricia Hendricks Farmer thanked the school board’s superintendent search committee. It conducted a thorough search for Kasun’s successor, she said.
Farmer said 34 applicants applied for the superintendent of schools position. Of those 34 candidates, 10 were certified superintendents of schools. Two applied from out of state, she said.
“We had a regional impact,” Farmer said.
Five candidates were interviewed in the first round, Farmer said. One of the candidates declined to continue because of salary issues. Three candidates met with the school board in a second round of interviews.
One of the three candidates dropped out, leaving two candidates, Farmer said. Klim was one of the two candidates, and the only one who had applied from within the school district, she said.
Klim has worked for the school district since January. She worked in the mental health field as a licensed clinical social worker before switching careers.
She worked as a member of the child study teams in the public schools. She was the supervisor of Child Study Teams and Related Services in the Pemberton Township Schools.
Klim also worked as the director of Pupil Personnel Services in the Shamong Township School District. And served as the director of Educational Services in the Freehold Township School District before coming to the Lawrence Township Public Schools.
Klim earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Rutgers University. She earned a master’s degree from Fordham University. She is completing a doctorate in education with a concentration in curriculum and instruction.
