By: Ryan Tigro

Can you handle the responsibility? The pressure? The work? Can you handle taking over as Superintendent of the Phoenixville Area School District several months into the school year? Answering yes to all of these questions, Dr. Mancini has responded to the beck and call of the concerned residents in the area to get the Phoenixville Area School District back on track.

Earning his B.A. and M.A. from West Chester University and another M.A., as well as his Doctorate, from Lehigh University, Dr. Mancini has an accomplished resume. Dr. Mancini also brings a variety of firsthand experience and knowledge to Phoenixville. He began his educational career in Lancaster, where he held every position from teacher to principal. After seventeen years in Lancaster, he became Superintendent of Schools in Brandywine Area School District for eight years. Finally, he worked as Superintendent in the Upper Merion School District for seven years before retiring.

As Superintendent, Dr. Mancini’s job is to oversee all the schools in the district, meet with principals and discuss what is best for their school, and help establish a budget for the schools. These tasks add up to a massive 60-hour work week. Sometimes from four in the morning to seven at night, Dr. Mancini will be navigating and discussing the various tasks at hand in the area. Dr. Mancini’s goals are enormous undertakings in themselves. “The school district has to be good for everyone,” Dr. Mancini said. “My top three goals are to get through the economic struggle by creating a budget that can satisfy the people and keep the students happy, begin working on ideas for the new middle school (estimated to open in 2012!), and overall management of the area.” Dr. Mancini predicts that there are sure to be challenges in getting everyone to understand some new changes and trying to fund all the projects which, ideally, will make Phoenixville a better community.

Dr. Mancini is only an interim Superintendent, though, which means that by June 30th there needs to be a permanent replacement. The process of finding a replacement is vigorous and challenging. Through an executive search consultant, Dr. Mancini and the school board will get input from the community for the candidate’s qualifications and develop a job description based on that information. They will then send out an advertisement and screen applications of 10-12 candidates that will go through an extensive interview process. Dr. Mancini’s personal top qualities of a Superintendent are one’s, “work ethic, interpersonal skills, overall knowledge, orientation to kids, communication, and integrity.” His top priority, however, is in the best interest of the kids. “You have to care about the kids; if not, you can stay home,” he said.

Dr. Mancini started as many high schoolers do, with lots of talent but un-ambitious. “I didn’t work real hard in high school. I had lots of talent but didn’t know how to hurt. I learned that you can handle anything if you put in the effort. The Army helped me hurt and learn self discipline,” he admitted. His guidance counselor even asked, “Are you sure you can handle that?” when Dr. Mancini talked to him about college. Dr. Mancini could and did; he has faced plenty of challenges in his career and brings a positive atmosphere to Phoenixville. If you happen to catch Dr. Mancini during his busy day, give him a warm welcome and friendly thank you for accepting the needs and responsibilities of the community. Don’t forget to ask yourself, “Can you handle that?” during the next obstacle in your life. Like Dr. Mancini, you can answer “Yes,” hurt, and rise to any occasion.