Search for new school super narrowed to six

BRICK TOWNSHIP - The school district's next superintendent will come from a pool of six candidates who were interviewed by the Board of Education last week.

"It's important for the public to know that the process is moving along," interim Superintendent Mary Ann Ceres said Monday. "The board set a timeline for filling the position and they are adhering to that timeline."

The board used a rubric - a set of criteria and standards used in subjective assessments - as well as input from various community groups to evaluate the applications and select the six individuals who were interviewed.

"Every single group said they wanted a candidate with knowledge of and concern for the community," Ceres said. "They also wanted the candidate's credentials and backgrounds checked thoroughly."

The groups also said the next superintendent should be highly concerned with student achievement and child-centered; a team player focused on staff morale; and fiscally responsible in terms of budget development, Ceres said.

Ceres said that the input from the various community organizations- which included the Brick Township Education Association, the Brick Township Association of School Administrators, the Township Council, along with parent-teacher associations and senior citizens groups - meshed with the original rubric the district created.

"A lot of their concerns and opinions were already included with what we had," Ceres said.

The 28 applications the district received were evaluated and the field was narrowed down to six candidates to participate in the first round of interviews.

Board President Daniel Woska said that he was happy with the six potential superintendents who were interviewed last week.

"They went well," Woska said. "I'd like to see someone hired next week, but we'll have to see what happens."

Because of privacy issues, Ceres declined to comment on the six individuals the board saw, but she did say that in-district personnel were among the interviewees.

Ceres said that the entire board had the opportunity to ask prepared and follow-up questions

The board will now decide which candidates to ask back for a second round of interviews slated for July 23.Ceres, a former Brick teacher and assistant superintendent, came out of retirement in April to lead the district for 135 days, until her permanent replacement is hired. She replaced Melindo A Persi, who served as the district's interim superintendent from July 2007 to April 2008, when a reorganized Board of Education fired him. In April, Woska said that Persi's dismissal was in response to the district's defeated budget.The district's last permanent superintendent was Thomas L. Seidenberger, who was hired in November 2002 and resigned last July in order to head the East Penn school district, near his Lehigh County (Pa.) home.

The board's next regular public meeting is slated for July 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lake Riviera Middle School multipurpose room.

- Danielle Medina