By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
The Board of Education is plugging along in its search for a new superintendent for the district, according to officials.
Board President Dr. Stephen Parker issued a brief statement at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting advising the township on the current status of the search for a new superintendent to replace retiring leader Dr. Gary McCartney.
”We are on track currently to have a new superintendent in place either by July 1, or by the start of the September school year. We are really getting close to completing our project,” Dr. Parker said. “I anticipate at this time that we will be able to make an announcement sometime next month. I assure the township that we will inform every one of the results as soon as we deem it appropriate.”
Last year, Dr. McCartney announced that he would be leaving his post after 10 years leading the district of around 9,000 students.
He said he was leaving to pursue other interests.
The district is working with consultants from the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) to find a new leader for the district.
In a telephone interview earlier this month, Dr. Parker said board members were entering the second round of interviews for the position and that the members were spending several hours two to three nights a week to screen the potential candidates.
According to Dr. Parker, some 40 applications came in for consideration and the board whittled that number down to 12-15 that came in for interviews in the last two months.
”Some (of the initial applicants) didn’t meet our qualifications,” Dr. Parker said.
He said that the NJSBA forwarded all of the applications to the district along with a list of pre-screened recommendations that followed fairly closely the applicants moved forward by the board.
Although the board will likely not announce any of the candidates until a contract has been offered to the final candidate, Dr. Parker said that he wanted the public to understand how hard members are working on the selection and how seriously they take the selection process.
”It is the most important job we have,” Dr. Parker said.
He said the reason for not making the candidates public sooner is to protect their privacy and understanding that they may already be employed by another district.
”Those districts may not know (the candidate) is applying,” he said.
When a final contract is being offered, the successful candidate may need 30-120 days in order to give the other district appropriate notice, he said.
Some members of the public have asked to be more included in the process in order to avoid problems such as those that arose in Highland Park and Montclair where residents were upset with the recommendations of the NJSBA for those searches.
Earlier this year, the NJSBA held a public forum at Crossroads North Middle School to have members of the public fill out a survey on the qualifications and attributes a new superintendent should have to lead the district.
After being prodded by members of the public attending the meeting, the NJSBA made the survey available online so that more community members could participate.
Special Writer Ed Birch contributed to this report.

