Monroe Superintendent Stuart Schnur expected to assume post March 1
By: Helen Pettigrew
MONTGOMERY Monroe Township Superintendent Stuart Schnur is expected to take over as superintendent of schools in the Montgomery district this spring.
The Board of Education entered into contract negotiations with Dr. Schnur after deliberating in private session Monday night, according to board President Linda Romano. The board offered Dr. Schnur the job that night and came to a final decision on the contract Wednesday, she said.
He is to be paid $150,000 in the first year of the contract, according to Business Administrator Jim Strimple. The board plans to vote on the contract Jan. 2, and Dr. Schnur is expected to take office March 1, according to Ms. Romano.
"He is a visionary and we believe he will be able to take the district to the next level," said Ms. Romano, who added that Dr. Schnur has "a lot of experience with referendums."
Montgomery voters approved a $70.2 million referendum for a new high school by a 3-to-1 margin in October.
"He seems to be a consensus builder and he is very technologically astute," Ms. Romano added.
Dr. Schnur said he felt a "strong marriage" with the district from the beginning of the interview process.
"When I was recruited by the consulting firm to be a candidate, from what I understood, the profile they were looking for included a strong technology background, a background in facilities construction and an understanding of high-performance communities and school systems," Dr. Schnur said.
"And that kind of is what I am all about, so I think the consultant felt it was a pretty strong match," he added.
Dr. Schnur said he was contacted by the consultant during the summer, when the board conducted its first search for superintendent, but declined to interview for the position at that time.
"I am in an extremely fortunate place," he said of his position with the Monroe district. "I have not been a candidate for any position for seven years."
While Dr. Schnur said he is very happy working in Monroe Township, he feels the job at Montgomery will allow him an opportunity to move forward in his career.
Several members of the board told The Packet last week that Dr. Schnur was the district’s finalist after he had visited the township Dec. 11 to speak with district officials and some members of the public and the township administration. And Dr. Schnur confirmed that he was one of two finalists.
The second finalist never received a second interview, according to Ms. Romano.
Four members of the board visited Dr. Schnur’s district Monday afternoon and reported back to the full board during closed session that night, Ms. Romano said.
The board vote on the contract will take place at a special meeting Jan. 2, at which the board is expected to hold a small reception for Dr. Schnur, Ms. Romano said. This will be followed by a formal reception later in the month, to which the public will be invited, she said.
Dr. Schnur has been the superintendent in Monroe Township since 1994. He also was superintendent of schools of the Buena Regional School District in Atlantic County for four years.
Dr. Schnur has been a principal of schools in Rockport, Mass.,Pearl River, N.Y., and Haddonfield in Camden County. He began his career teaching social studies in Piscataway and Bridgewater.
He was named superintendent of the year in 1999 by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a master’s degree from Kean University and a doctorate from Fordham University in New York.
The township has been without a superintendent since Jamie Savedoff left the district June 30 to become the superintendent of the East Brunswick district. The board had set a target date of March 1 to hire a new superintendent, which is the date interim Superintendent Thomas Butler will finish his term with the district.
Dr. Butler was to complete a six-month term with the township at the end of January but requested and received a one-month extension from the state pension board when the school board re-opened its search for superintendent in October.
The board had interviewed several candidates and chose two finalists in October, but reopened the search when one of the two withdrew from the process, citing personal reasons.