No more pencils, no more books
Retiring Lawrence Superintendent ends 48-year career
For the first time in 65 years, Dr. John Fitzsimons will not be heading to school in September. He will end his 48-year career in education on June 30, when he officially retires as the Lawrence School District’s superintendent after eight years.
Fitzsimons, 70, will be remembered in Lawrence for accomplishments that include selling the Number One School, increasing instructional time at the middle school and implementing a full-day universal pre-kindergarten program.
“He is a consummate professional, trusted confidant and a partner in achieving the educational objectives of the board,” Murray Forman, president of the Lawrence Board of Education said of Fitzsimons. “I personally thank him for his hard work and achievements on behalf of the district, and wish him and his wife, Carol, health, happiness and continued success.”
The $30 million sale of the Number One School benefited the district substantially: $17 million was used for comprehensive capital improvements, and the remaining money is used as a reserve that helps keep tax increases small.
By adding eight minutes to the usual 42-minute period at Lawrence Middle School, Fitzsimons expanded instructional time by 19 percent, which equates to 34 more days of instruction.
“I had a great career,” he said, sitting behind the desk in his office a day after his retirement party at the Inwood Country Club. “I always left a place better than I found it, and I had some very loyal co-workers.”
He may have learned the leave-it-better-than-you-found-it lesson from his mother. Looking to better her family’s lot in life, he said, Fitzsimons’s mother pushed the family to move out of Brooklyn and settle in Levittown. He was a three-sport star at Island Trees High School, playing football, basketball and baseball.
“At first I was devastated,” Fitzsimons recalled of the move, before which he lived with his grandmother and his large extended family. “No more delicatessens, no more candy stores,” he added, remembering that he had to take a bus from Levittown to Hempstead to see
a movie.
