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Community Corner

Meet George Lucaci: BOE Vice President

Lucaci, a 24-year Summit resident, hopes to continue working to eradicate the achievement gap.

Twenty four-year Summit resident George Lucaci will look to take the school district to the “next level” as the new vice president of the Board of Education.

Lucaci, who was born and raised in Cleveland, has two children who recently graduated from Summit High School and another who is currently there.

While he believes that Summit has an exceptional school system, he feels we should be comparing ourselves to everyone worldwide.

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“I don’t believe we should compare our schools only to Union County schools, or to New Jersey schools, or to national schools,” Lucaci said. “We should be comparing our own individual school district here to what is going on internationally. Whether it is Shanghai, whether it is Finland, or Germany, we should be compared to all of the school districts that have done exceptionally internationally.”

Lucaci says he often becomes “disenchanted” when he hears other people compare our school system to other New Jersey schools. He explains that once our children become adults they will not only be competing with other local graduates.

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“They will not only be competing with the guy coming out of Millburn,” Lucaci said. “But they will also be competing with someone out of the University of Shanghai, or University of Vienna, or someone who got their Ph.D. in Tokyo.”

Lucaci is a first generation American who attended Duke University before traveling Eastern Europe while taking courses. He returned to the United States and received his M.B.A from George Washington University.

He began as a foreign exchange trader at Citibank and is now involved in the hedge fund business, working on Wall Street. He has been involved in the community of Summit for more than a decade.

“I was on the planning board [in Summit] and ran for councilman in 2004,” Lucaci said. “I was also a consistent soccer and baseball coach for at least 10 years in the community.”

Lucaci says he has always been concerned with student achievement. His mother was a teacher and professor, so he knew “what a good teacher was” by watching her as a child.

While Lucaci believes Summit has many great teachers, he believes improvements can be made.

“It’s the 800-pound gorilla sitting in the room,” Lucaci said. “Nobody in Summit wants to say that we can improve our teaching staff. We can.”

While teachers are one issue, Lucaci also wants to focus on what he calls “the four pillars.”

“We usually look at three, but I believe we should really look at four,” he said. “We look at performing arts, academics, and athletics. The one I think we should add is community service. It is a four-legged, not a three-legged, stool.”

Another focus point for the Board of Education is the achievement gap in Summit, according to Lucaci.

“Our board has been very vocal that an achievement gap can be eradicated,” he said. “According to New Jersey tests, some of our students are less than proficient. We should not have any child in our school district that is less than proficient.”

Lucaci said it will not be easy to solve the problem, stating obstacles such as economically disadvantaged families will be tough to overcome.

Michelle Stevenson, who was recently elected president of the BOE., has the full support of Lucaci.

“She is going to be great,” he says. “She is very easy to work with and she is always calm in a storm, which is a good trait for her to have. The position of vice president is really there to support the president.”

In the end, Lucaci praises Summit for a number of reasons, one being the diversity.

“It’s what makes Summit a great town,” he said. “Just from running for council in 2004 made me realize how many bright people there are here. Never underestimate a Summit resident.”

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