The Moorestown Township Public Schools superintendent is leaving the district sooner than originally announced.
That was the news from the Aug. 11 meeting of the MTPS Board of Education, during which current superintendent Timothy J. Rehm announced that his last day with the district would be Aug. 31.
The Aug. 31 date is almost two months sooner than the date originally announced by board president Kathy Goldenberg in a release from late July in which she said Rehm’s letter of resignation indicated that he would be resigning effective Oct. 26.
That same release also said Rehm’s resignation letter indicated his resignation was for personal, family related reasons, and he had accepted a new position as superintendent/principal in a district in Ocean County.
Prior to being hired as the interim superintendent for MTPS in February 2014, Rehm had retired to Ocean County from a 36-year educational career in Cornwall, N.Y.
Rehm accepted the full-time superintendent position in May 2014, with a standard three-year agreement.
Rehm has also previously said that the daily commute to Moorestown takes him about an hour.
“Regretfully, for personal reasons, it has become necessary for me to relocate back to Ocean County and seek employment there,” Rehm said at the Aug. 11 meeting.
Rehm said he’s never found a board, staff or community than that of MTPS that works harder for the benefit of its children, and he wished the district continued success and good fortune in the future.
When asked about the process of appointing a replacement, Goldenberg said the board was still waiting for the state Department of Education to give approval for an acting superintendent.
However, Goldenberg said she didn’t know how long that approval might take.
Regarding filling the position long-term, Goldenberg said that responsibility fell on the members of the board as elected officials and the board would follow a methodical process of research.
“Every member of this board of education wants to have someone who comes who is a part of us and stays,” Goldenberg said.
Bridget Potts, a teacher at Mary E. Roberts Elementary School, spoke on behalf of Moorestown Education Association president Lisa Trapani, who was away on vacation.
Potts said the MEA believed Rehm was a professional and respectful educational leader and wanted to thank Rehm for his service to the district.
“He respected what we did instructionally because he actually worked as a teacher and knows what life in a classroom and in a school district is like. Therefore, he was able to move us forward in a collaborative manner,” Potts said.
Regarding the search for a replacement, South Valley Elementary teacher Cricket Dever voiced concerns about the negative effect the “constant” turnover of leadership in the district was having on children and staff.
Rehm’s departure marks the third superintendent to have left the school district within the past three years, following the retirement of John Bach in 2012 and the resignation of Brian Betze in 2013.
“I just want to get it right,” Dever said. “I don’t understand it. I was in personnel for 15 years before I went back to teaching and I would have been fired if this happened in the business world, so I am hoping that we can get it right.”
Board vice president David Weinstein pointed out that while he didn’t believe the past vetting processes were perfect, the most recent search ended with Rehm, who Weinstein believed did “fit the district.”
“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Rehm has other things in his life that are bringing him away from us, and we have to all accept that and find somebody else that will hopefully fit Moorestown,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein also noted that the statewide salary cap on superintendent’s salaries imposed by Gov. Christie several years ago was having a negative effect on the talent pool of potential candidates.
