BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — An interim superintendent was appointed by the Board of Education at its Aug. 10 meeting.
The board unanimously approved the appointment of Robert “Bob” Smith for the temporary position. The Upper Freehold Regional School District’s current superintendent, Robert Connelly, will be leaving his position on Aug. 31.
Board President Jeanette Bressi said that Smith will work four days a week at a cost to the district of $650 per day. She said the salary is reasonable in terms of an interim superintendent, and that the amount spent will be less than Connelly’s combined salary and benefits.
Bressi said Connelly knows Smith and recommended him.
Bressi said that Smith was “thrilled” to come to this school district and that the district “was on the verge of exploding, on the verge of greatness.”
Smith’s contract will run for six months, according to Bressi, who said Smith is not interested in becoming the permanent superintendent. Bressi said Smith is flexible and that if a new superintendent is found before his contract is up, he will leave. Also, she said if a superintendent has not been appointed within six months, he is willing to stay.
Smith will assume the position on Sept. 1, the day after Connelly leaves.
Smith, of Toms River, retired in June as superintendent of the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School District. From 1987-97, he served as superintendent for the K-12 Wood-Ridge School District in Bergen County.
Smith has a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., a master of arts in teaching from Oberlin College in Ohio and a doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.
Bressi said the district is no longer using the N.J. School Boards Association (NJSBA) to find candidates for the superintendent position. Instead, it has hired a private firm to conduct the search.
Bressi said the board was pleased with the work the NJSBA had done, but that members wanted to look for alternative sources for candidates.
“I feel we have exhausted what [the NJSBA] can offer,” she said.
One drawback of the association, according to Bressi, is that it has a policy not to hire out of district, whereas private firms might try to directly recruit superintendents from other districts.
The NJSBA did find a candidate for the position earlier this summer, but the individual backed out 36 hours before his appointment, according to Bressi, after his district offered him a lot more money to stay.
Bressi said that the firm the district is currently working with was started by three former superintendents who are extremely well-networked in the state.