January 27, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 Waldwick Board expects to move fast on superintendent selection About 20 residents attended last week’s Waldwick Board of Education meeting to offer and hear input on the qualities the board should consider in its selection of a new superintendent of schools. Dr. Robert Penna is retiring at the end of the school year after four years in the district. Board of Education President Patty Levine said she was pleased with the turnout and “happy for the support of citizens who are interested in who we select.” “The comments were terrific,” said Levine. “People had constructive comments that are right in line with the type of individual the board, the administrators and the staff are hoping to find,” she added. Dorothy Kariofiles said that the person selected should be involved in the outside community, not just the school community. Susan Sherman said it should be someone who is always accessible and feels that “your” children are important. “He should have a children-first mentality,” said Kimberly Cacciatore. “He should not be a businessman. He should have been a teacher. He should walk the halls, want to be involved,” she added. Waldwick High School teacher John Menning said it should be someone to whom the staff will feel comfortable going to; someone “approachable.” Adele Badalamenti said she’d want to know what the person found desirable about Waldwick and what he would do for Waldwick. “I would expect nothing less that Dr. Penna. We have grown by leaps and bounds under his leadership. We have been moving up, and I expect this would continue,” she said. “He should acknowledge the teachers, but should also make the staff accountable,” she added. Several residents spoke about curriculum strengthening and coordination at all the schools. “He should unify the district and have all schools doing the same thing, and he should have extensive experience in curriculum development, writing and revising,” said Kelly Ramundo. “He should raise the bar for teachers as well. If the teachers are up to par, we get better teacher applicants,” said Janet Hascup. “How well liked is he where he is now? It would be the same here,” commented Al Coldon. “Community relations should be important. We should be on the same page with the mayor and council. He should be willing to bring us together as a community,” said former board president Carol Shepard. She added that the salary should be flexible to take into account the competitiveness of the area. Levine agreed, noting that many districts in the area are also looking for chief school administrators. Board member Dominic Novelli said that the board was moving quickly in recognition of this fact. “They’ll have many résumés out, but we’ll try to grab them before they look elsewhere,” he said. Levine said that the board and search consultant Dr. Gregg Hauser had narrowed 24 applications down to eight and would be starting interviews Feb. 2, hoping to have made a decision by the end of February or early March. There were no applicants from within the school district, Levine said. “The board is excited with all these candidates. The community will be excited too,” predicted trustee Joseph Orlak. Levine said the board had yet to determine how the candidate would be presented to the public, citing confidentiality concerns. She said it would depend on what procedure the finalist felt comfortable with. “The board chooses the superintendent. You elected us to do that,” said Levine, to questions as to whether the public would be involved in the interview process. 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