Board of Education not conducting search for permanent superintendent
As parents and teachers may have come to realize, the Moorestown Board of Education has not found cohesive leadership from superintendents during the last few school years, and that issue is not being resolved this year.
As publicly announced in a settlement agreement following the 2012–13 school year, the board was forced to pay a $165,000 salary to ex-superintendent Brian Betze. For reasons still not clearly known, Betze’s sudden resignation in August 2013 has not lead the board to much clarity since.
When asked about Betze on March 10, “He left for personal reasons, that’s all I am able to say,” the official spokesperson for the Moorestown Board of Education, and president, Don Mishler said.
The board’s business administrator, Lynn Shugars, was temporarily placed as superintendent after Betze’s departure.
This year, the board decided to hire the current interim superintendent, Timothy J. Rehm.
“We’re very happy to have him as our superintendent,” Mishler said about Rehm.
To find Rehm, the board went on a lengthy and nontraditional journey following Betze’s resignation. The board did not actively seek Rehm, or any other candidate for that matter, to be the interim superintendent.
Instead, the board sent job postings to other school boards, not limited to boards in this state. According to Mishler, Rehm applied, and was ultimately picked as the best candidate, after the board reviewed about 30 other profiles from applicants.
After about 30 candidates were selected, the board painstakingly narrowed top contenders down to four. There was yet a further selection process after that one.
“We finally boiled it down to two, and he was our selection,” Mishler said.
Still, Rehm is not a guaranteed answer to the board’s past and present superintendent dilemmas.
As an interim superintendent, Rehm is not permitted to serve a steady, full-length term on the board. Contracts for long-standing superintendents last between three and five years.
“He’s limited to two years,” Mishler explained.
Though Rehm is retired as a New York state public employee, where he was a part of the Cornwall Central school district for many years, he has the right to remain active in the state of New Jersey.
“His ability is not limited in any way because he is retired in New York,” Mishler said.
To answer everyone in Moorestown wondering when the board will seek a permanent superintendent without any kind of limitations, “There is no ongoing process right now to find a permanent superintendent,” Mishler said.
Still, Mishler noted Rehm as a contender, when the future process of finding a leader for the board begins.
“He could also be a permanent superintendent,” Mishler said.
The typical process for the board to find superintendents lasts throughout the school year, from November to March.
“We would have some agreement among the board members as to when exactly to start that process,” Mishler said.
Mishler further explained that after a March deadline, chosen permanent school board superintendents typically have 60 days to notify their current districts about their new positions.
“It doesn’t make sense to start that process now,” Mishler said, regarding the search for a permanent board leader.
According to Mishler, the board did not search for a permanent superintendent this year, because the school budget was its top focus and priority.
“Everything else seems too far off to focus on right now,” Mishler concluded.
The next board meeting is set for April 8 at 7:30 p.m., in the William Allen Middle School media center.
