WOOLWICH TWP. Deputy Mayor Jim Lavender will be stepping down from his post at the end of this month in order to take on a different role in the township Ð superintendent of the Kingsway Regional School District.

Lavender, who has lived in Woolwich for the past seven years and served on the township's committee for more than five years, has an education background that spans 15 years.

He began his teaching career in Franklinville, where he taught middle and high school, served as assistant principal in Gloucester City and most recently has been employed as principal and superintendent of the combined Gibbsboro and Berlin school districts in Camden County.

In his position as deputy mayor, Lavender has been instrumental in campaigning the state to increase aid to the district's schools, which included testifying in front of the state's Assembly Budget Committee last month. He believes taking the position of superintendent will help him to continue that work.

"I've been involved in Woolwich in many capacities, but by trade I'm an educator," He said. "Given this past year's unprecedented state budget cuts and the tax rates facing our region, I think I will better serve our community by devoting my energies to the school district," he said.

He also thinks that one of the main problems facing the Kingsway school district is the lack of community involvement and support, and that his experience on the township committee and his service as deputy mayor will allow him to bring resources and relationships from the community to connect the two.

The Bellmawr native is a graduate of Gloucester Catholic High School and received his undergraduate degree from Rowan University before completing his master's and doctorate at Wilmington University. He will be replacing the current superintendent, Ave Altersitz, who retires July 30.

Lavender's position on the township committee will be filled by one of three candidates chosen by the Woolwich Democratic Club, which has 15 days after Lavender's resignation to suggest the names to the committee.

Once a replacement has been chosen, the committee will vote on a new deputy mayor.

"Obviously it's bittersweet," Mayor Joe Chila said. "Jim has served the residents of Woolwich with distinction for the past five-plus years and he will surely be missed, but he's not going far and he will be an asset to the Kingsway district.