Lopatcong
considers April hire for superintendent
Tuesday, December 07, 2004 • By LINDA
LISANTI • The Express-Times
LOPATCONG TWP. -- School officials hope to hire a new
superintendent by the end of April, three months before the
current head retires.
Superintendent Albert Purdy will step down July 1 after
nearly two decades at the helm of the Lopatcong Township
School District.
During a public forum Monday, a consultant with the New
Jersey School Boards Association laid out a timeline to find
Purdy's replacement.
Diane Morris said the school board wants to publicly
announce a new superintendent April 26 for an official start
date of July 1.
The board has enlisted the New Jersey School Boards
Association to facilitate the search.
The position was advertised for the first time this
weekend. Morris said her office was already getting requests
for applications.
They must be returned by Jan. 24.
At that time, Morris said she will review all the
applications and weigh them according to how close the
candidate fits the district's criteria.
The school board will then invite candidates in for two
rounds of interviews, narrowing it down to two or three
finalists who will visit the district and meet with the
staff and community.
After board members visit each of the finalists' school
districts, they may offer the job to one candidate or decide
to repeat the process.
The search is driven by feedback received by the board,
staff and community on what they want in a new
administrator, Morris said.
She posed questions to the roughly half dozen residents
who attended Monday's forum.
When asked about the district's strengths, they cited
its small size, sense of community, teaching staff and solid
core of volunteering parents.
The district's challenges, they said, are limited
funding and scarce resources, a rapidly growing community,
class sizes and the sending receiving relationship with
Phillipsburg High School.
Community members said they want a new superintendent
who has an open-door policy, is very visible in the schools,
communicates well with the public and puts students
first.
Their responses, combined with input from the staff and
other focus groups, will be used by the school board in
selecting a candidate. Comments may also be sent to the
Lopatcong Township School District, Superintendent Search
Committee, 321 Stonehenge Drive, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 or
to supersearch@lopatcongschool.org.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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