The Tabernacle School District is close to choosing its next leaders.
Interim Superintendent John Sherry announced the candidates for the positions of superintendent, business administrator/board secretary and chief of school administrator have been chosen and contracts are being drafted. The board is hoping to have a public meeting and announcement of the new leaders Aug. 31.
Earlier in August, the Board of Education had a number of special meetings where candidates were interviewed. Though the board did not reveal names, Sherry did say candidates have been identified for all three positions.
Sherry said the candidates’ credentials have been sent to solicitor Cameron Morgan and that a draft document for the superintendent contract has been sent to the executive county superintendent of schools for approval.
Once all of the documents are approved and candidates accept the offers, the board will have a special meeting to appoint them and make a public announcement. Sherry hopes the appointment will be before the school year.
“I am hopeful, knock on wood, that prior to the 30th of August we will be posting broadly an announcement that there is a special board meeting and inviting everyone to come,” Sherry said.
Not much was said about the candidates; however, Board President Victoria Shoemaker spoke positively of the new superintendent.
“Hopefully you will find, as we found, that the new superintendent is very open to communication and community relations,” Shoemaker said.
A resident asked how the transition will go. Sherry said the goal is to have the superintendent ready to start by Nov. 1, as there is a 60-day notification clause in the contract.
Sherry also said he would be serving as the historic mentor for the new superintendent, available by phone and to meet in person for the first year, if the superintendent needs guidance or has questions. The state requires an official mentor assigned by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, but Sherry will stay on for $100 a month to teach the superintendent the “Tabernacle way.”
“I just want to take the opportunity during the first year to be able to explain the Tabernacle way,” Sherry said.
In the future, Sherry said it is not uncommon once the superintendent is announced to see him or her attending meetings and becoming a presence in the township. Shoemaker also said a superintendent welcome reception is being discussed for the future, one for faculty and one for the public.
A special BOE meeting is planned for Aug. 31 if all contracts are approved.
In other news:
• Sherry announced, at the request of the board, that Morgan will not be required to be in attendance at the monthly BOE meetings. If there are any question that require the attorney, they will be jotted down and will be sent to Morgan for answers. Those answers will then be supplied to the board and community as needed. The public clapped upon hearing this change.
“We are trying this because I think this is the direction that the board and the community would like to see us going,” Sherry said.
• On the agenda was a resolution to authorize the administration to go out to bid for an elementary school generator not to exceed $5,000. According to Sherry, the school is in need of the generator for when children are in school and the power goes out or an emergency comes up. The school has the option of a grant for a 60/40 split of the cost and maybe additional money from the state in the form of ROD grants or hurricane relief.
Members of the public said they felt there were a lot of questions to be asked about the generator still and the money for the generator could be put to use for other things needed in the district.
Some members of the board agreed, saying committing $5,000 with all of these questions raised may require the resolution to be looked into further. Sherry reminded board members that $30,000 has already been invested into the project with engineering and study fees, and that the school would not get the 60/40 split if the project is not pursued.
The resolution did not pass, as it received three yes votes and four no votes, with Antony Laudicina, Brian Lepsis, Julia Sailer and John Trico voting “no” and John Bulina, Megan Jones and Shoemaker voting “yes.”
• On Sept. 7, the board will hold a special meeting to tour the school facilities. The tour will begin at 6 p.m. at the Indian Mills Elementary School to the Sequoia Alternative Program and end at the Kenneth R. Olson Middle School. Those who attend will see what work has been done this summer by maintenance, see what the faculty has been doing and see what projects the board will have to take into consideration for the 2017–2018 budget.
• Welcome back letters were scheduled to be sent to parents and students on Aug. 23.
