NJSBA Presents Final Report On Superintendent Search To School Board

The search for a new superintendent is officially underway as the Board of Education received the candidate’s applications and a consultant from the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) presented the results of the community input session.

“There were a lot of positives said about your school district as well as concerns for the future. Your school district has not gone through a change in many, many years so obviously there’s some apprehension about this,” said Charlene Zoerb, a consultant from the NJSBA.

Zoerb recently held a community input session with about approximately 15 residents, another with 45 staff members, and received 10 e-mail responses from residents. She presented the feedback that she received to the school board regarding what the community is looking for in a new superintendent.

“There’s a real positive feeling of what you have here and what you’ve built already and that the new educational leader will be building on that,” Zoerb said.

The input was broken down into a final report, which included the school district’s strengths, critical issues facing the district, what to seek in the background of a candidate, leadership style, and questions to ask in an interview.

Strengths

Residents and staff pointed out that Lacey Township is a small, close knit, caring community with dedicated staff and administrators.

“It’s important to focus on strengths. In this district, you’re going to be building on a long history of success and that was evident by a lot of the feedback we got in our sessions,” Zoerb said.

Zoerb found during her input sessions that Lacey Township is a progressive community and school district and that there is a real satisfaction in the relationships built among the board, superintendent, administration, staff, and the community.

Critical Issues

But the primary issue facing the school district is funding and the budget, which is not uncommon, Zoerb said.

“It’s on the forefront of everyone’s plates. It took up a lot of discussion,” she said.

Other critical issues included a stabilizing the tax rate, decreasing student population, an increasing special education and ESL enrollment, and substance abuse awareness.

“With the challenge of our students certainly comes the challenge of substance abuse education and awareness,” Zoerb said. She found that many expressed the importance of having someone with expertise in that area.

An unpaid intern who assumed the position of a substance abuse counselor in the position left at the end of the last school year. But , the school district is planning to bring in an Elementary Substance Abuse Counselor on a weekly basis with a substitutes pay, Superintendent Richard Starodub previously said.

Background

The community is looking for someone with plenty of experience in education as well as business, Zoerb said.

The current superintendent is leaving with a lot of experience so the community is concerned about bringing someone new in.

“They enjoyed having that expertise around for so many years and so there are some concerns about the new person coming in having a good deal of experience behind he or she,” Zoerb said.

They are looking for someone with a well-rounded approach to running the school district including administrative, teaching, fiscal management, and business experience, she said.

“Our economy at hand, it’s very critical that the new superintendent has experience in budget and fiscal management,” Zoerb said.

Lacey resident Tim O’Connor said one of the hardest obstacles the district will have to overcome is laying out classroom experience and administrative experience. O’Connor is hoping for someone with more administrative experience but sees the importance of having someone with classroom time, he said.

“On one side we are, we’re handling multi-million dollar budgets but on the other side of the coin, this is a business that educates children and influences and effects the future of our community through our youth,” Zoerb said.

Zoerb also pointed out that the community would like someone who will focus as much on the kindergartener coming into school as the senior leaving.

Leadership Style

Respect was a word used often in Zoerb’s discussions with the community and staff, she said.

Other characteristics included a visionary leader, participatory manager and leader, visible and approachable, dedicated to education, innovative and creative, flexible, and decisive.

Staff members are hoping the new superintendent will have a positive energy that inspires, Zoerb said.

The community would like the “open door” policy to remain.

“Anytime a parent or someone has a problem or question, the superintendent’s door is always open. [They] want that to continue,” she said.

What’s next?

The applications for superintendent were due on Monday, Aug. 15 and Zoerb provided the school board with applications on Aug. 22.

“This was a great beginning. This is certainly very strong, well constructed input. This is the beginning of many hours the board will be dedicating to the search process,” Zoerb said.

The ideas and hopes provided by the staff and community will be used in the remainder of the process as the school board screens and interviews candidates.

Although the community has high expectations, it may be difficult to find exactly what they are looking for.

“I don’t think this person exists,” O’Connor said after Zoerb read presented the final report.

Zoerb encouraged the school board to use the final report as guided input and a reminder of what the entire community and school staff desires.

“Revisit what your staff has offered you in terms of help and advice and what your community has offered you,” Zoerb said.

The board could not provide information on how many applications were submitted or who applied. They hope to have a new superintendent in place by the Oct. 17 school board meeting.

For a copy of the final report, see the attached PDF.