EDITORIAL
By Ruth Luse, Managing Editor
On Monday, Hopewell Valley residents will get their first, if not only, chance to let the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) know exactly what they are looking for in their next superintendent of schools.
This is a topic, we know, that is of immense interest to many in the Valley. It should be, because the schools belong to all of us, not just to those who have children in the schools. As the user of most of the tax dollars paid by Valley property owners, the school district is our biggest investment. We all are stakeholders and share the hope that the next leader we get will be able to understand and to handle the many challenges the district will face in the years ahead.
The Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education obviously thinks the choice of the next superintendent — who will be the 10th person to serve in that capacity since local schools regionalized in 1965 — is important, too, because members decided in the spring to pay $6,000 to NJSBA for the purpose of conducting a national superintendent search.
On NJSBA’s behalf, consultant Diane Morris will facilitate Monday’s forum, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the Central High School cafeteria. Ms. Morris also is conducting smaller sessions with various focus groups for the purpose of gathering input. At the end of the information-gathering sessions, Ms. Morris will use what she’s learned to help shape documents to be used in screening and interviewing candidates.
On Monday, members of the public will be asked to identify the “talents and characteristics” they’d like to see in the next leader, who would, if all goes as planned, begin work July 1, 2009. As interim leader, Thomas Butler plans to be on board until June 31.
”It is the community’s opinions about the ideal superintendent’s talents and personal characteristics, as well as the challenges he or she will likely face in the coming years in Hopewell Valley, that will dominate the evening’s discussion,” school district spokeswoman JoAnn Meyer said recently.
Sometime in October, school officials plan to place advertisements announcing the position in newspapers and magazines, The cost of the ads is not covered by the board’s $6,000 contract with NJSBA.
The tentative superintendent search schedule also calls for a Jan. 5 job application deadline. During February, officials are expected to conduct the first round of interviews and to narrow the applicant field down to two to four candidates. Second interviews are planned for March, when a final decision could be made.
The part of the search process that directly involves the public will be over before we know it. So, we urge members of the Valley community (Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough and Pennington) to attend and to participate at Monday’s meeting. This could be the only chance many citizens will have to express their opinions about the kind of person the next school leader should be at a forum set aside specifically for that purpose. We know you’re busy. But we also know how important school board decisions are to most Valley residents, for one reason or another.
We urge all of you to get involved in this process. And we urge NJSBA and local school officials to consider very seriously all the input they get