Dan Seiter: ‘We do not currently have (or need) a person to serve as acting superintendent at this time’
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
WEST AMWELL — South Hunterdon Regional High School parents — who were upset about the job performance of interim superintendent of schools, Joann Calabro, and who reportedly circulated at least one petition asking the school board not to rehire her — were in for a surprise at the May 16 school board meeting.
That night, South Hunterdon Regional High School Board of Education President Dan Seiter announced, in a prepared statement, that Dr. Calabro had resigned.
Her resignation is effective June 30, Mr. Seiter said.
Mr. Seiter said Monday that Dr. Calabro “currently continues to fulfill her responsibilities as interim superintendent, and we do not currently have (or need) a person to serve as acting superintendent at this time.”
Asking to remain anonymous, one of the parents, who wanted Dr. Calabro ousted, said some parents felt she was insensitive to school traditions and were unhappy with the way she dealt with students.
In his prepared statement on Dr. Calabro, Mr. Seiter said in part:
”We as a board had fully vetted her background and experience, and viewed her as the most qualified candidate to advance our district goals.
”And she has done just that, setting forward a clear action plan for the three district goals and making sufficient progress on each of those three goals — no small task given the extended absence of our principal (Mark Collins, who is out for medical reasons and is expected to return in early July) and the immense disruptions left in the destructive aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the tragedies of Newtown, Connecticut.
”We thank her for those contributions and wish her well as she enjoys her well-deserved retirement time with family, grandchildren and the activities that bring joy to her life,” Mr. Seiter said.
Dr. Calabro was hired last August, after Nancy Gartenberg left the South Hunterdon superintendency to take a similar post in Montgomery Township (Somerset County).
Dr. Calabro was rehired by the board for another year last month.
The organized grassroots opposition to that move began shortly afterward.
Dr. Calabro’s contract runs from Aug. 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. She is a former superintendent of the Fort Lee Public Schools. Her appointment was made at the July 19, 2012 meeting of the school board.