BISHOP APPOINTS INTERIM
SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT

            Bishop Thomas V. Daily has announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Chadzutko as interim Superintendent of Schools, succeeding Msgr. Guy J. Puglisi, effective July 1.

            Msgr. Puglisi, a longtime and experienced administrator and educator, will maintain the title of diocesan Vicar for Education, while continuing to teach at Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School, Park Slope, the Bishop said.

            Dr. Chadzutko, with more than 25 years of service in Catholic education, has served as Deputy Superintendent since March, 2000, when Msgr. Puglisi appointed him to the post.     

            Stating that he was announcing the change “after prayerful reflection,” Bishop Daily said: “I have taken this step out of pastoral concern for Msgr. Puglisi’s well-being, recognizing the stress created for him by health issues that he has faced courageously and in a manner inspiring to all who know him.”

            The transfer of authority will relieve Msgr. Puglisi of demanding administrative duties, the Bishop said.

            “Msgr. Puglisi is, and always has been, an exceptional educator,” Bishop Daily noted, “and I am pleased that he will continue to fulfill that role at Bishop Ford.”

            The Bishop also paid tribute to him “for the high standards he set” as superintendent, a post he held since 1994.

            In selecting Dr. Chadzutko as interim superintendent, the Bishop said: “I do so with confidence, knowing that Msgr. Puglisi demonstrated his faith and reliance on him as an administrator when he named him Deputy Superintendent more than three years ago.”

For the past nine years, Dr. Chadzutko has been a member of Msgr. Puglisi’s professional staff, including service as District Superintendent for the schools in the Brooklyn West Vicariate. Prior to that he was principal of Blessed Sacrament School, Cypress Hills, also for nine years.

He began his career in Catholic education as a teacher, first at Holy Cross School, Maspeth, and then at the School of the Holy Child, Westbury, L.I.

            He has a doctorate in education from Hofstra University and a master’s in education and professional diploma in administration and supervision from C.W. Post College. He is a graduate of Holy Cross School, Maspeth; Cathedral Prep, Elmhurst, and St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn.

            Msgr. Puglisi, who recently received the Bene Merenti Medal from Fordham University where he has taught school administration for two decades, holds master’s and doctoral degrees in education from the Jesuit institution.

            Both the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn have benefited from his commitment to Catholic education. Serving in the archdiocese for about a decade, he was the principal of Our Lady of Sorrows School in Manhattan and later the Manhattan District Superintendent of Schools.

            In l985, Bishop Francis J. Mugavero appointed him to serve in the Office of Catholic Education, where he became director of development and regional school supervisor in the Brooklyn West Vicariate. His development work led to the establishment of the Futures in Education program.

            He was named deputy superintendent in l993 and superintendent a year later. He became Vicar for Education in l997.

            Among his initiatives were the organizing and directing of diocesan guidelines for education in human sexuality, coordinating the Aquinas enrichment program for gifted elementary school students and the writing of a critical thinking skills program for teachers across curriculum lines

            Over a two-year period, Msgr. Puglisi edited and directed production of a diocesan catechism for elementary school students, entitled “The Treasure of Our Faith,” which Bishop Daily promulgated in late January.

            The Bishop said he was grateful to Msgr. Puglisi, Dr. Chadzutko and “all who collaborate in the vocation of teaching as Jesus did.”