BY JOSH DAVIDSON
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — The school district is expected to lose its second assistant superintendent since early May.
The Board of Education was scheduled to vote to accept the retirement of Marilyn Cohen, assistant superintendent for pupil services, last night. The retirement will be effective Sept. 1, 2004.
The retirement of Cohen is a "major loss" for the school district, Superintendent of Schools David Witmer said.
Witmer announced Cohen’s intention to retire at the board’s workshop meeting on May 19.
"I really like Marilyn and I respect her very much," board Vice President Joan Minnuies said. "I will miss her. I think she was an outstanding assistant superintendent who has always been very dedicated."
Cohen could always be found at the office "from 7 in the morning until 9 at night," Minnuies said.
"She truly cared about the students and the staff," she said. "I’ve never seen any assistant superintendent work as hard as she does."
Cohen also has an incredible knowledge of the school district, Minnuies said.
"You could ask her about almost anything and she could give you a history of it and if she did not know it she would get it for you," she said.
Cohen was effective in improving the district’s drug and alcohol programs, Minnuies said.
"Marilyn was always on a very tight budget and for the money that she was allotted she got a lot in for it," she said.
Cohen was also accessible to those in the school district, Minnuies said.
"Anytime you needed to talk to her as a parent or board member, her door was always open," she said.
Cohen would also take opinions into consideration even if they differed from her own, Minnuies said.
"It’s going to be hard to find someone that’s as dedicated and hardworking as her, with the knowledge [of the Middletown school district] that she has," she said.
The district’s administration will now be faced with the task of replacing a number of administrators including Nancy Whelan, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, whose resignation was accepted by the board on May 4. Interim principals are now filling in at High School South, the Thorne Middle School and the Middletown Village and Navesink elementary schools, according to the district ‘s Web site.
Those around the district knew beforehand that a number of administrators would be leaving the district, Minnuies said.
"It’s going to be hard and next year we are bound to have more administrators retire," she said. "It’s something we knew was going to happen and something we’re going to have to deal with."