The fate of a contract between the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education and its new superintendent of schools is still awaiting approval from the state Department of Education (DOE).
During the FRHSD board meeting on Jan. 31, the board’s attorney, Lawrence Schwartz, provided an update on the status of the contract to the board and to the public.
The board has selected a new superintendent, but it has not revealed the name of the person who has been chosen. Board members have said they did not want to publicly name the individual until a contract was in place.
The proposed contract was forwarded to the DOE.
Schwartz said the board is still waiting for approval of the proposed contract from the DOE. He said the board hopes to hear from the state soon on the matter.
Feb. 7 is the date when new rules in regard to salaries for school superintendents are expected to take effect in New Jersey. The salary caps for the superintendent positions are expected to be based on a school district’s enrollment. The FRHSD enrolls about 11,800 students in six high schools (grades 9-12).
Last year the board identified the two finalists for the superintendent’s position as Charles B. Sampson, the superintendent of Verona Public Schools in Essex County, and Robert Gratz, the superintendent of the Hackettstown Public School District in Warren County.
During the Jan. 31 board meeting, Manalapan resident Gloria Close referred to an article that appeared in a local magazine and named Sampson as the district’s new superintendent.
Close said the board’s representative from Colts Neck, Chris Placitella, commented on the matter in the article.
Placitella said a reporter from the magazine called him while he was at work to ask for a comment about Sampson’s selection.
He said his attention was focused on what he was doing at the time and said he made a mistake and provided a comment about Sampson. Placitella apologized for making his comment prior to the board’s announcement of who had been chosen as the new superintendent of the FRHSD.
The board did not deny the information the magazine published.
Schwartz said it is not known how the reporter knew that Sampson had been selected as the district’s new superintendent.