Claire Sheff Kohn to leave district July 31 after "a good four years."
By: Jeff Milgram
"It has been a good four years," Claire Sheff Kohn conceded Thursday.
Her tenure as the superintendent of the Princeton Regional Schools is drawing to a close, coming to an end July 31.
Officially she will become the top administrator in the Masconomet Regional School District, located north of Boston, on Aug. 1.
Dr. Kohn, the seventh person to hold the superintendent’s job in Princeton since the early 1990s, has accepted the Masconomet position, but she has not officially resigned.
"I will be submitting a letter of retirement from New Jersey and Princeton Regional and it will be effective official Aug. 1," she said.
Dr. Kohn, who was born and still has family in Massachusetts, spent 21 years as a Bay State educator. She will be working only an hour away from where her mother lives.
"My mother is very happy," Dr. Kohn said.
The pension Dr. Kohn will receive from Massachusetts will be more than she would receive from New Jersey.
"It’s hard to leave, as much as I desire to return home," Dr. Kohn said. "It is very hard to leave here. I’ve really invested myself in the community."
The Masconomet Regional School Committee unanimously approved a five-year contract for Dr. Kohn with a first-year salary of $140,000 Wednesday night. She will be taking a $29,000 pay cut to move to Massachusetts.
Charlotte Bialek, president of the Princeton Regional Board of Education, had nothing but kind words for Dr. Kohn.
"It’s really been an education" working with Dr. Kohn, Ms. Bialek said. "I learned a great deal about how districts work and how boards work."
As of Thursday afternoon, the board had not received an official letter of resignation.
"We’ll be looking for her letter of retirement," Ms. Bialek said, "and we’ll need to make some decisions on the process" of finding a new superintendent.
One of the possibilities is that the board will hire an interim superintendent to serve after July 1.
"These things can take a while," Ms. Bialek said. "An interim is likely."
The board will have to decide if it wants to hire a consultant and what it wants the consultant to do. While the board found Dr. Kohn in neighboring Lawrence Township, proximity is not an overarching factor, Ms. Bialek said. The board, however, will look for an educator with experience as a superintendent, she said.
Dr. Kohn’s first year as superintendent was spent on the district’s aging and overcrowded buildings.
Working with the board and community groups, she helped win overwhelming voter approval of the $81.3 million referendum to renovate and expand all six of the district’s schools.
Then came the planning for construction. "That has been the focal point from the start," Dr. Kohn said.
Dr. Kohn also looks back proudly to the processes she put into place "to put the district in good financial shape" and to the important administrators she hired.
"We are in very sound financial shape," she said.
Almost as soon as she arrived in Princeton, Dr. Kohn had to deal with minor brushfires student parking at Princeton High School and the ordering of trailers.
"There was a lot to do right away," she said.
"And finally we’re working on education, with a regular review of curriculum and instruction" and an emphasis on minority achievement, Dr. Kohn said.
One of the low points and the biggest disappointment of her time in Princeton was the 1993 teachers’ strike, the first in the district’s history.
"The good news is that we’re back on track with good working relations, to the union’s credit," Dr. Kohn said.
At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Suzanne Thompson, a co-president of the Princeton Regional Education Association, read a statement wishing Dr. Kohn well in her new district and offering to help and support the district in any way as the board searches for a successor.
Another disappointment for Dr. Kohn was the need to redesign the expansion of PHS after the first bids came in several million dollars over budget.
"Construction is always difficult," Dr. Kohn said. "I think we’ve done a good job of oversight. … I think we’ve been very responsible."
Dr. Kohn wants to be remembered as the superintendent who brought stability to the district.
"I was the seventh person to hold the title (since 1990). I think I’ve brought stability and professionalism to the position," she said. "I think I’d also like to be remembered for fairness and being open and honest."
Jeffrey Graber, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, believes Dr. Kohn’s departure is a setback for the district, but Princeton Regional will survive.
"I have to say that it’s a tremendous loss that Claire is leaving. She’s a dynamo. It’s been a real privilege to serve with her," Dr. Graber said.
He said the processes Dr. Kohn put in place will continue to be used.
"Claire represents the best of what an educator should be," Dr. Graber said.
Ms. Bialek and Dr. Graber described Dr. Kohn as inclusive, reflective and a good listener. But, both said, she is not afraid to make her own decisions.
Dr. Kohn is leaving Princeton for a seventh- through 12th-grade district with about 2,000 students in a modern campus that includes a middle school and a high school.
On Tuesday, she told the Princeton Regional Board of Education she is "leaving with great sadness."
"I love the Princeton Regional Schools," she said. "It’s place that sometimes gets under your skin, but gets into your heart."