Interim superintendent wants stay on in Brick BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - Mel Persi isn't done with Brick yet, and he hopes Brick isn't done with him. Persi, who was appointed interimsuperintendent of schools after former Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger resigned last summer, was originally slated to step down in November. "I really enjoy the community," he said. "It's unlike any other I've been in." Persi is hoping that the state Legislature will approve bills currently in both the Senate and theAssembly that would allow retired school administrators employed in local districts in interim positions to remain on the job longer than the current time period. He hands a visitor to his office a handout he wrote that urges legislators to approve the bills. "Act now," it reads. "Don't delay." Persi came to Brick in November 2006, when he was appointed interim business administrator after Nicholas C. Puleio resigned.He then did double duty after Seidenberger resigned, and served as both interimsuperintendent and business administrator. Some in town have questioned the roughly $700 a day Persi is paid as interim superintendent But Persi said that's the going rate for superintendents in New Jersey, which has a shortage of school administrators. "I don't receive any benefits," he said. "I pay for my own cell phone." The proposed legislation would "level the playing field" for retired administrators who want to continue working in interim positions, he said. "I'd like to stay on all through next year," he said. Persi hasmore than 50 years of experience in public education. His first superintendent job came at age 26, when he was hired by Washington Township. He has also served as a principal, business administrator, and worked for the state Department of Education. The 12-hour days he put in over the last few months in an attempt to get the school budget passed come with the job, he said. "I don't get much sleep," he said.