Anew superintendent of schools for the Freehold Regional High School District has been selected by the district’s Board of Education, but his identity will not be revealed to the public until the details of his contract have been settled.
During a Nov. 29 board meeting held at Freehold Township High School, board President Ronald Lawson announced that the final group of two candidates who were in the running to lead the 11,800-pupil district had been cut to one individual.
He said negotiations between the district and that person are ongoing. He said the parties are following guidelines for superintendent contracts that have been put forth by Gov. Chris Christie and by New Jersey’s acting commissioner of education.
Lawson said once a contract has been agreed upon, the document will be sent to the Monmouth County executive superintendent (an employee of the New Jersey Department of Education) for approval. If the contract is approved it will be brought before the board for a vote and the new superintendent’s identity will be revealed to the public.
On Nov. 16, Charles B. Sampson, superintendent of Verona Public Schools in Essex County, and Robert Gratz, superintendent of the Hackettstown Public School District in Warren County, were introduced to the public as the two finalists for the position.
Both men currently lead small prekindergarten through grade 12 districts. Hackettstown has an estimated enrollment of 1,884 students this school year, while Verona has an estimated enrollment of 2,145 students this school year.
The FRHSD has about 11,800 students in the six high schools that make up the district. There are eight sending municipalities in the district: Colts Neck, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro.
When the Nov. 29 meeting was opened to public comment, some people suggested that the board hold off on hiring a new superintendent.
The previous superintendent, James Wasser, retired in June. Since that time one of the FRHSD’s assistant superintendents, Suzanne Koegler, has been serving as the acting superintendent.
Marlboro resident Paul Schlaflin suggested that the board delay action on a contract for the new superintendent until after the governor’s salary cap guidelines for superintendents takes effect in early February.
At the present time there is no limit to what a school superintendent may be paid in New Jersey and an individual’s compensation may or may not be based on the enrollment of the district he or she leads. The decision as to what to pay a superintendent is left to the members of local school boards.
Under the salary caps put forth by Christie, salaries for school superintendents will be based on the number of students enrolled in their district.
The maximum salary for the superintendent of a school district that has 10,000 students has been set by the governor at $175,000. That is the same amount the governor is paid.
Christie has not said what the maximum salary will be for a person who heads a district that has more than 10,000 students (i.e., the FRHSD).
Schlaflin said the FRHSD has been running efficiently under Koegler. He said he was concerned that a school board that rushes into a contract with a superintendent in advance of the initiation of the salary caps will eventually be punished by the state in some way.
Other members of the public said they did not understand why Koegler, who is the assistant superintendent for human resources, was not considered for the position of superintendent.
Colts Neck resident Andrea Giannopoulos, who is the president of the Colts Neck K-8 School District Board of Education, said she believes Koegler has done a good job as the acting superintendent, but said it was time for the FRHSD to move forward.
Giannopoulos said she saw the district’s future in one of the two men who were introduced to the public at the previous board meeting. She did not state which candidate for the position of superintendent she was referring to.
She also said she was unsure of where the public’s concern about the superintendent’s salary cap was coming from because when they were asked by members of the public about that issue, both Gratz and Sampson aid they would adhere to whatever salary cap is established for the superintendent of a district the size of the FRHSD.
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