The New Westminster school district has hired John Gaiptman to continue to run the district while it works to get its finances in order.
Board of education chair Jonina Campbell said Gaiptman will remain with the school district for at least the next six months, and the district will suspend its search for a new superintendent.
"He's a good decision maker. He brings out the best in people," Campbell said about Gaiptman, a veteran superintendent who joined New Westminster from Victoria.
Gaiptman took over for John Woudzia earlier this year as a temporary fill-in after he retired from his post on the island.
The self-described "workaholic" has been shaking up the school district – introducing a series of procedural bylaw changes and opening the curtains on the district's management and decision-making procedures.
"He's a hard worker, and he's got a very good understanding of how the district runs," Campbell said.
Gaiptman’s leadership has been instrumental in ensuring that the district is working towards achieving excellence and sustainability in its planning and practices, trustee Casey Cook noted in a press release.
“Mr. Gaiptman’s vision and commitment to principle-based decision making has united the board in its efforts, and I am relieved to hear that Mr. Gaiptman has agreed to extend his commitment with the New Westminster school district,” Cook said.
“I came into this role on Feb. 17 with the goal of assisting the school district in updating its education policies while creating an immediate plan to solve the financial shortfall for the 2014/15 school year as well as developing a strategy to repay the Ministry of Education the $4.8 million deficit,” Gaiptman said in the release.
The district still owes the money to the province for previous budget shortfalls. Gaiptman has been making a series of sweeping suggestions to help the district get on track with its budget, including upping fees for athletics programs at the high school.
