Cranbury is looking outside the district for a new chief school administrator.
By: Lacey Korevec
Professionalism, experience and a strong vision of how the district should be operate those are the qualities the school board wants in Cranbury’s next chief school administrator.
With Chief School Administrator and Principal Carol Malouf planning to retire at the end of June, the board is getting a head start on finding a replacement, and is looking outside of the district for candidates, school board President Joan Rue said.
"There is no one within the district who has the qualifications to be a chief school administrator," Ms. Rue said. "So, at this point, we’re having to look outside the district."
Ms. Malouf, who announced her retirement in June, joined the district in 1978 as a teacher and taught English and literature to grades six and eight, becoming Cranbury School vice principal and director of curriculum in 1989. In 2001, she became chief school administrator and principal at a salary of $113,000. This year, Ms. Malouf will earn $148,830.
The board plans to put together a job description and place advertisements in newspapers by mid-January, with hopes of beginning the interviewing process by February and presenting a replacement to the community in May, Ms. Rue said.
"I realize that it’s going to be tough filling Carol’s shoes," Ms. Rue said. "But fortunately we are a strong district and hopefully an attractive district to the right kinds of candidates."
To help with search, the board has enlisted the help of the New Jersey School Boards Association, and specifically Field Service Representative Carole Larson. Ms. Larson has been meeting with the board, as well as other community organizations throughout the month of December to determine what the community is looking for in a new chief school administrator.
Ms. Larson also worked with the district in 2001, when it chose Ms. Malouf as a replacement for former Chief School Administrator Robert Bartoletti, Ms. Rue said.
"She is familiar with the district, which is why we were anxious to work with her again," Ms. Rue said of Ms. Larson.
Once a replacement is chosen, Ms. Rue said she hopes that person will be able to spend some time at Cranbury School before the end of June, while school is still in session and Ms. Malouf is still with the district.
"We’re hoping that there will be a seamless transition from Carol leaving to the start of the new chief administrator," Ms. Rue said.
But for now, the board is glad it has so much time to work through the process of finding a new chief school administrator, Ms. Rue said.
"I think we were very fortunate in the sense that Carol Malouf gave the district a full year’s notice about her intention to retire, which is a great help to the district because it gives us the opportunity to not have to rush the process but actually to interview at a calm pace and make a decision that’s best for the district."

