Moorestown’s board of education held its second meeting of the month on Sept. 17 and provided the latest information on a superintendent search.
“A couple of Saturdays ago, we interviewed candidates, and we are going to have a follow-up round of interviews later this month,” said board President Mark Villanueva. “We expect to be in a position to announce our plans in terms of our next superintendent within the next month or so.”
But the announcement of a new superintendent is likely to be tempered by sadness at the departure of Interim Superintendent Joe Bollendorf. Villanueva noted that when Bollendorf came to Moorestown almost two years ago, the school board asked him to look at the failed 2019 referendum and to get a sense of the school’s campuses, along with learning the district’s needs.
“Joe has very eloquently articulated his observations over the course of those nearly two years, and really assessed the state of our district and the needs of our school community,” Villanueva noted. “We intend to have a referendum vote for (our) capital project in March of 2025.”
A bond referendum is an opportunity to receive state funding for building needs that support instruction. Some of the township district’s buildings and infrastructure need attention to match the high-caliber education Moorestown provides for its students.
Older HVAC systems and roofs are ready for replacement; space is insufficient for current and future students; and athletic areas are due for improvement, among other issues. The board is also eyeing more sustainable improvements, such as creating a sixth-grade section of the middle school instead of adding individual classrooms in different parts of the building.
“As part of that process, I think the board and the administration has been very deliberate and intentional about a number of things, one of which is being transparent and communicative with the community as we have moved along in this process,” Villanueva observed.
“ … I think this is a real opportunity to show progress in the town, in the district,” he added. “I think it’s not only a great plan for the school community, but for our town in general. There are so many positive aspects of this referendum. Increasing taxes is not something I want to do, but this is a worthy investment.”
For updates and/or more information on the March 2025 bond referendum, visit www.sites.google.com/mtps.us/future?usp=sharing.
“The amount of folks that are turning out for our home-and-school meetings is mind- boggling to me. It’s very impressive,” Bollendorf remarked during his update. “I think it goes hand in hand as to why this district performs the way that it does. The amount of community involvement and quite frankly – caring – for what’s happening (in) our schools is evident to me on a regular basis, and it’s incredibly evident at our home-and-school meetings.
“It goes without saying that there’s a reason why good things happen in Moorestown,’ he added, “and it’s really the embodiment of the word ‘community’ and it’s alive and well here, which is really important to understand.”
For board committee reports, public comment or to view the meeting in its entirety, search Moorestown board of education on YouTube.
