January 30, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Franklin Lakes District renews search for Woodside principal by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes K-8 School District has begun a new search for a principal for the Woodside Avenue School. The district has been looking for a new principal since the previous principal, Dominick Rotante, who had served in that position for the previous eight years, accepted a 10month personal leave in August 2012 and agreed to resign from the position as of June 30, 2013. However, he has since filed a lawsuit against the district and Superintendent Frank Romano seeking reinstatement. Meanwhile, in a letter to the school community, Romano advised that after leading the staff and community’s school and principal profile forums, the administrative screenings of approximately 70 application packets, the representative committee interviews of eight candidates, and the representative board level interviews of two finalists, he and the screeners and interviewers came to two conclusions. One conclusion is that the district had identified “one superstar” who just happens to have less practical experience than they would like to see. The other conclusion is that, in order to do due diligence, and given the fact that the school district has the time, they must reopen the search. “It’s no secret that I thoroughly enjoy the prospect of promoting from within, and I am so proud and inspired by the fact that our internal candidates often rival the external ones, as evidenced by this past round,” Romano stated. “I am even prouder of the fact that the superstar whom we’ve identified is one of our internal candidates. “I am certain that I could mentor our internal candidate and that candidate would have an abundance of support from the current administrative team, but we must know for certain that we have been industrious in searching for the person who has not only the talent, understanding, and knowhow, but also what we traditionally consider to be enough practical experience, making that candidate the right person for Woodside Avenue School.” Romano advised that the district would conduct a new search with the serious intention of identifying a permanent principal by April to begin in that position on or around July 1. “I freely admit that I am not a fan of interim administrators, and so based on our findings, I will evaluate our situation in April and go from there,” Romano stated. “In the meantime, I look to re-engage the folks who participated in the various steps of round one of the search, asking them to play the same roles in round two. They are closest to the work; they have proven to be extremely high functioning groups; and they deserve the opportunity to play their parts in finding not only the best person, but also the right person for the job.” Romano further advised that the position will be advertised in the Sunday Star-Ledger and on various job websites through Feb. 15. He said he hopes to begin screenings shortly after that date and then conduct interviews by a representative committee of 10 by early March. Romano thanked those who participated in one or more of the various aspects of the original search with what he described as diligence and integrity. “Working with you has been an honor and a pleasure,” he told them. Rotante’s lawsuit is pending in Superior Court. Rotante claims he was forced to accept the severance package and resign his position as a result of a vendetta waged against him by Romano because he opposed Romano’s hiring as the school district’s curriculum director prior to his being hired as superintendent in 2010. He also claims in his lawsuit that Romano was angry with him because he opposed his redistricting plan. When contacted about the new search for a replacement for Rotante, his attorney, Richard Meisner, said he believes Rotante should be reinstated because the recent election of new school board members represented popular support for Rotante. “My view is the best man for the job is Rotante and that school board could end the litigation and end the problem of not finding a principal by going back to the guy who the parents really want,” Meisner said.