Kevin Cullen Is Interim Superintendent Of Middletown Schools

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Kevin Cullen is the new interim superintendent of Middletown schools. He is taking over the district's top job because superintendent Jessica Alfone is retiring from the district at the end of this school year, in June.

Cullen is also the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and special education in Middletown schools. He will do both jobs and be paid an additional $120 per day in addition to his current salary, according to district documents.

The school board approved Cullen to be acting superintendent at their April 28 meeting. He will be acting superintendent from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2027, or until the school district hires a permanent superintendent. The school board is actively looking for a permanent Middletown school superintendent, and the board engaged the New Jersey School Boards Association to help it do a superintendent search.

Separately, Pete Smith is the new athletic director of Middletown schools.

Also, the Middletown school district will resume its strategic planning sessions, both Cullen and Alfone announced at the Tuesday night school board meeting (watch it here).

These are meetings between school district administration and Middletown parents as the school district attempts to chart its course for the next five years.

The end goal of strategic planning is to develop a five-year plan for the district. The district plans to reconvene these meetings throughout this summer, and Cullen hopes to present that five-year plan to the board and the public in the fall of 2026.

The school board will then be asked to approve the five-year strategic plan.

The school district held three strategic planning sessions in May, June and August of last year (you can see the results of those meetings here). More than 100 Middletown parents participated.

"We got a lot of really good information and I don't want the community to think that was all for naught," Alfone said Tuesday night.

Cullen said he's very eager to start the process again.

Alfone still has two years left in her five-year contract with the Middletown school district. She said she is retiring from public education and will be moving into the private education sector. As long as she retires from public education — meaning she does not accept a job at another public school district — her leaving does not mean she is breaking the terms of her contract.