Firstly, I wish Dr. Calabro every success in her tenure, and I am glad that a capable and experienced Interim Superintendent was eventually hired. The following is not intended in any way as a commentary on her or her ability or suitability for the position, only in the process that led to her appointment.
One of the key roles of the BOE is to appoint the Superintendent, and the board should have been laser focused on hiring a replacement once Dr. Diaz announced his resignation. The BOE had 97 days to hire a replacement, yet it took 82 days to bring a single candidate in for interview who then declined the position, leaving FTS to be interviewing candidates on the last day of Dr. Diaz’s tenure. My understanding (and I stand to be corrected) is that it took 54 days to even form a special search committee.
There is no indication of sufficient urgency from the BOE to appoint a new Superintendent. The July BOE meeting was cancelled. No special BOE meeting was called. My understanding is that the special search committee was not formed until 19-Aug. As far as we could tell the position was not advertised on NJSBA. Multiple candidates were hired by other schools before FTS could interview them (paraphrasing Mr. Palmer, 16-Sep BOE meeting). Only one candidate was brought forward for interview at first and then not until the September BOE meeting.
From the external perspective the hiring process appears lacking any sense of urgency, leading to a scramble at the last moment to avoid the school being left without leadership.
Mr. Giordano has stated on Facebook that he feels that Matt and I offer criticisms but no solutions. I would recommend the following for the future.
- Should the Superintendent or Business Administrator resign unexpectedly then the BOE will form special search committee to find a replacement ASAP, and ideally within 2 weeks. This may require a special BOE meeting but meetings can be scheduled at short notice and only require 4 board members to form a quorum.
- The position will be advertised within 1 week after the committee is formed on NJSBA and/or other standard forums for recruiting Superintendents/Business Administrators.
- At each subsequent BOE meeting an updated status will be shared with the community on the ongoing search with the update being placed on the agenda prior to Executive Session to be respectful to the community members wishing to hear the update.
- The special committee will endeavor to bring at least two qualified candidates in for interview.
Colin