BELLEFONTE AREA
SCHOOL NEWS
814-355-4814 • www . basd . net
Bellefonte Area School District ' s New Superintendent
Over the summer , BASD saw the retirement of their former superintendent , Mrs . Tammie Burnaford , and will now start their 2024-25 school year with their new superintendent , Mr . Roy Rakszawski . Mrs . Burnaford endured the Covid pandemic , the swatting incident at the High School , and has been part of the push for the new elementary school currently being built on the grounds between the current high school and Governor ’ s Park . Her tenure ’ s impact will not be forgotten anytime soon . Moving forward , the district and community has welcomed Dr . Rakszawski with open arms and is excited to see his direction and leadership . Below is an interview with Dr . Roy Rakszawski :
Where was your last employment ? I was the Superintendent in the Edgewater Park Twp . School District in Edgewater Park , NJ , near Philadelphia . What made you decide to take the leap from music teacher to administrator and how has it impacted you ? I became interested in school leadership when , in my 12th year of teaching , I had a new principal and vice principal who were different from any other administrator I ' ve ever met . They were passionate and excited about leadership and motivated to make positive changes . They inspired me to make the change and I haven ' t looked back since . Professionally , I ' ve really enjoyed the lifelong learning that comes with being a leader . There are always things to learn and better ways to do things . It keeps my job fresh and interesting . However , going from being a music teacher to school leader was more seamless than you might expect . Band directors intuitively think about how to move a group with varied skill sets toward a common goal . I think because of that , many aspects of school leadership came naturally to me .
What are some of the benefits of having an outsider ' s view with becoming the superintendent of BASD ? I think having fresh eyes on old challenges is always beneficial . As someone new to BASD , I can be objective as I start to identify areas for growth . At the same time , I always want to be careful not to simply imprint my ideas on others . I understand that , just because something worked for me in another district , that doesn ' t guarantee that it would work here . Ultimately , my vision is to create a shared vision in collaboration with the BASD community . Lastly , any other information that you would like to include : I love being a school superintendent and I think I would love this job pretty much anywhere . However , having this opportunity to lead in a place as special as BASD is incredible . I ' m very grateful to be here .
Thank you to Dr . Rakszawski for taking the time to answer these questions . We are very excited to see the new path forward over these next few years !
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