Franklin Lakes Names New Superintendent

Dr. Lydia Furnari will be the new Superintendent of the Franklin Lakes K-8 school district, the Board of Education announced after its meeting Tuesday.

According to the announcement, Furnari is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the South Orange and Maplewood School District. She will begin in July, replacing outgoing Superintendent Frank Romano, who is headed to Ridgefield schools.

“We are told, as trustees of the Board of Education, that the most important decision we make is the selection of a Superintendent,” Board President Larry Loprete said in the statement, which introduced Furnari at Tuesday’s meeting.

“The search for the next Superintendent was an intensive process in which all of our trustees fully participated and were committed to a singular purpose.”

In the statement, Loprete outlined Furnari’s other credentials, which include a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education and a Master of Arts degree in administration and supervision from Montclair State University, and a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.  

Furnari previously served as the Director of Curriculum with the Department of Instruction with the Montclair Board of Education and served as a principal and a director at the elementary and secondary levels for the Elizabeth Board of Education, having opened a new school facility as a building principal.  

While serving the Elizabeth Public Schools, Furnari was named Administrator of the Year and received the National School Change Award by the National Principals Leadership Institute, Loprete said in the announcement. During her teaching career in the Montclair Public Schools, Furnari was also named Essex County Teacher of the Year.

She is also an adjunct professor at Caldwell University where she teaches courses in administration and supervision in the graduate department of education.