New SOMSD Superintendent To Be Hired. Identity Remains A Mystery

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - There will be a new sheriff in town soon as the South Orange-Maplewood School District is poised to hire a new superintendent on Thursday. As to the identity of the prospective hire, taxpayers are just going to have to wait and see as the district has no plans to release their identity before the meeting.

According to officials, the Board of Education plans to approve the appointment of a new superintendent in a special meeting of the board which is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. in the District Meeting Room located at 525 Academy Street in Maplewood.

The meeting will also be livestreamed via the District’s website, and broadcast on SOMATV channels.
"All are welcome and invited to attend, and to join us in welcoming our new Superintendent," officials wrote.

Walter Fields of Black Parents Workshop, an activist group whose stated mission is dedicated to the academic success of Black children in public schools, took issue with the process saying that it was shrouded in secrecy.

"Transparency has been the Achilles heel of this school district and continues to plague its oversight. The district cannot expect public confidence to grow when decisions that affect the welfare of children are being held from public scrutiny," Fields said in a press release. "There are too many unanswered questions as to how candidates for the Superintendent position have been identified. Given the tenures of the last two permanent superintendents, we are concerned about the vetting process during the current search. One of our former superintendents left the district he went to in disgrace after serving here. The other left here leaving the district in total disarray with little to show by substantive change."

“While Board members are acting within their statutory authority when hiring a Superintendent, the community has a right to expect that the Board will do so in the most transparent manner,” Fields said in a press release. “Given the tenures of the last two permanent superintendents, we are concerned about the vetting process during the current search.”

In the statement, which can be found in full on the Black Parents Workshop Facebook page, Fields encouraged the Board of Education to delay the process and provide the public an opportunity to meet and engage any individual being considered for the position.

"While Board members are acting within their statutory authority when hiring a Superintendent, the community has a right to expect that the Board will do so in the most transparent manner. Given the many issues facing this school district, it is incumbent that the next Superintendent is not set up to fail," Fields said. "By hiring an individual without the community having an opportunity to engage the candidate, that person will begin their tenure under a cloud of suspicion. The community has a right to be informed, a right to engage candidates before they are hired, and certainly a right to question the process."

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