Witkowski, who was not at the board meeting, has worked as an interim superintendent and elementary school principal in the past for the district.

“He’s well known and familiar with the district,” Superintendent Roger Catania said. “He is very capable in a number of different ways. In many cases, he’s somebody who really understands how to work well with people, and that means teachers and staff and students and also families. Families will remember him from the elementary school a few years ago. Those children are in high school now, so that will be, I think, a familiar face for them. That’s really important. You know, transitions always have their challenges, so it’s nice when we can provide that connection.”

Catania said Witkowski had previously done a good job as interim superintendent when the district was going through some issues in 2009.

“It was in the midst of some of the real financial challenges that school districts throughout the country were facing,” Catania said. “That was the time when Mr. Witkowski was here as [interim] superintendent, and he helped with much of the budgeting responsibilities. He navigated through a tough time for everybody, but certainly for our district, and we’re really happy to have him back. Somebody who can be a steady presence and a calming influence during tough times is somebody who we enjoy having around.”

The position was left vacant when current LPHS Principal Dana Wood was hired to replace Leonard Sauers as business manager for the district.

The idea for an interim position came after the search for a new full-time principal created some disagreement, Catania said in a previous interview on Aug. 14.

“Two weeks ago a group of stakeholders – faculty, support staff, administrators, board members, parents and students – were involved in reviewing four candidates,” he said. “In the discussions that followed the interviews, we discovered that we really did not have a consensus over the candidates. As a group, we decided it would be best to take a deep breath, rethink the search, appoint an interim [principal], rethink the process and the job description, and restart the search in the near future.”

The plan now is to have Witkowski take the position on Sept. 24 and fill the role until the winter break in December.

In the meantime, Catania and other stakeholders will go back to deciding on a new long-term principal.