Judith A. Wilson will assume her new post Feb. 1.
By: David Campbell
The Princeton Regional Board of Education unanimously approved the appointment Tuesday night of Judith A. Wilson as the district’s new superintendent. She is expected to assume her new post Feb. 1, replacing current interim Superintendent Richard Marasco.
"We’ve come to the end of a very successful superintendent search," board President Anne Burns said prior to the board vote to hire Ms. Wilson, who is currently superintendent of the Woodbury Public School District in Gloucester County. When the board voted, board member Walter Bliss voted "very yes."
Last week, Ms. Wilson was named New Jersey superintendent of the year, and is a candidate for the honor at the national level as well. The honor was announced at an annual conference in Atlantic City co-sponsored by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
Ms. Burns noted Tuesday night, "We’d like to say we knew that was going to happen, but we didn’t." Nevertheless, the board president suggested the award confirmed what the board discovered in selecting Ms. Wilson for the job.
Ms. Burns said that Princeton’s new superintendent signed the contract Tuesday afternoon. Her starting salary will be $162,000.
Earlier this year, the board hired consultant Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates of Glenview, Ill., to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent successor to former Superintendent Claire Sheff Kohn. Dr. Kohn left the district in July to take a job as superintendent of the Masconomet Regional School District in Topsfield, Mass.
Ms. Burns said the consultant conducted more than 140 interviews with faculty, staff, administrators, students, parents, residents and community leaders. "They did provide us with an interesting and well-qualified applicant pool," she said.
The board president said Ms. Wilson would have liked to attend the meeting Tuesday night, but said she had a meeting in her current district regarding a pending referendum there. Ms. Burns said: "I look forward to Judith joining us Feb. 1."