Could Politics Obstruct Brick's Superintendent Search?

With the majority of seats on the Board of Education up for grabs in April 2012, an expert warned board members recently that politics could play a part in the hiring of a new superintendent.

Bill Librera, CEO of West Hudson Associates, a private firm that helps school districts find new superintendents, said the timing of the district's search, and case law which states an outgoing board cannot obligate an incoming board on policy matters, could prove to make waves in Brick's search for a new chief schools administrator.

Librera's company made a presentation to current board members at the Dec. 14 board meeting to pitch its superintendent search service.

Librera said a search for a new superintendent takes about four months.

"Four months puts you right at the point where a new board would be seated," Librera said. "You need to consider that. That puts another issue on the table, as this could be a board with a very different majority."

Last April, the ticket of Sharon Kight, Larry Reid and Susan Suter won seats on the board. They aligned with John Talty and Warren Wolf to create a de facto majority. Since then, and has been replaced by Walter F. Campbell, who was appointed by the majority.

Next April, the unexpired seats occupied by Suter and Campbell, as well as the seats occupied by Kim Terebush and Len Cuppari, who themselves have a de facto alliance, will be up for grabs. That means whichever group of board members – the two currently present on the board, or any additional ticket that runs – will most likely get to choose the new superintendent. Alternatively, a new board could choose to extend a contract to current Superintendent Walter Hrycenko, who was notified by the current board that his contract would not be renewed after the 2011-12 school year.

"That would have an impact on potential candidates," Librera said.

Librera said some candidates might be nervous about going through the hiring process, only to learn that a new board wants to go in a different direction at the last minute.

The news wasn't all bad, however. Peter Bastardo, another representative from the company, said the Brick should attract quality candidates.

"You'll hear a lot," Bastardo said, of school districts finding it difficult to attract candidates with new superintendent in place. "But quality districts such as this will attract quality candidates. If you go to your salary cap, that's a nice salary in the state of New Jersey to be a superintendent."