The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials in March presented School District of Lancaster Assistant Superintendent Matthew Przywara with the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Gary E. Reeser Memorial Award.
The Gary E. Reeser Memorial Award is PASBO’s highest honor and is given annually to a member or members who are selected based on their professionalism, their superior job performance, their development of innovative ideas, and their contributions to the profession of school business management.
“Przywara is a highly skilled, visionary leader who possesses the unique combination of both business acumen and people skills,” said a colleague in nominating him for the award. “He is a systems thinker and sees the interconnectedness of the various functions of a school district in ways that enable him to solve complex problems in innovative ways.”
PASBO created the award in 1977 following the tragic death of Gary Reeser, Deputy Executive Director of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit and PASBO Vice President at the time. Przywara received the award in March during PASBO’s annual meeting and conference in Hershey. It includes a $2,000 scholarship for the school district.
Two superintendents under whom Przywara has worked were on hand to celebrate the award, including Dr. Keith Miles, who became superintendent in 2023 as Przywara was promoted to assistant superintendent.
“It’s a pleasure to work with Matt and witness his leadership and commitment to SDoL students, staff, and our school community,” Dr. Miles said in announcing the award to the school board.
“Mr. Przywara is an exceptional school business official in every way,” noted Hannah Barrick, PASBO’s executive director. “He has demonstrated extreme service and dedication to his school district and community, and his deep understanding of the challenges facing students and schools across the commonwealth played a key role in the landmark school funding lawsuit. He is deeply committed to the support and development of his colleagues and to personal and professional innovation, improvement, and evolution. He is immensely deserving of this recognition.”
The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) is a statewide organization with more than 4,000 members, most of whom are K-12 non-instructional administrators serving in the areas of finance, accounting, payroll, facilities, transportation, food service, technology, communications, human resources, purchasing and safety. PASBO’s mission is to develop and support leaders in school business operations by focusing on educating its members through professional development opportunities as well as keeping them informed of the latest legislative issues affecting school business through workshops, an annual conference, specialty conferences and publications.