Students in Berkeley Township won't be the only ones heading back to school in September.

Superintendent James D. Roselli will be mentored by former longtime Lacey Township school superintendent Richard P. Starodub throughout the school year.

The Board of Education voted unanimously at the Aug. 16 board meeting to pay Starodub $2,500 for the service.

"He and I will work throughout the year together," Roselli said at the meeting. "I have to comply with a state mandate."

Starodub retired from the Lacey school district last Oct. 31, after 21 years in the district.

The state mandate also includes continuing education requirements, according to the board agenda.

Roselli was approved by a unanimous vote of the Berkeley Township Board of Education, three days after his selection was approved at a special meeting of the board. He will be paid $148,000 yearly over the course of a five-year contract, the board announced.

His name was one of six presented to the board by Richard Marasco of Leadership Advantage, the outside firm the board hired for $6,500 to conduct the search. Roselli received his doctoral degree earlier this year.

Roselli's appointment was not without controversey. Central Regional Schools Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides had offered to do the job for free, in addition to his Central Regional duties. Parlapanides applied for the position, but was never interviewed.