Moorestown School District Selects Superintendent Search Firm

has selected a North Jersey consulting firm to assist in its search for a new superintendent.

Board Member Matthew Simeone said the board unanimously chose West Hudson Associates earlier this month. Simeone and other members of the superintendent search committee recommended West Hudson to the board after considering several other firms.

“We looked at districts with similar requirements, similar size to Moorestown,” he said.

Simeone said the committee also researched the firm’s track record by speaking to other districts to see how satisfied they were with West Hudson’s results.

In explaining the role the search firm would play, Simeone said, “Their job is to go out and survey the market and bring the choices to us. But ultimately, the decision is on us.”

He said the committee would hold a “kick-off meeting” with West Hudson in early November to develop a plan, with an emphasis on making sure the “stakeholders” in the district are kept in the loop throughout the search.

“A huge part of this is going to be outreach … We want to make this a very inclusive approach,” said Simeone, indicating administrators, teachers, parents and students would all be part of the process.

He declined to provide details of the district’s contract with West Hudson, but said the firm offered the “best combination of performance and price.”

According to Simeone, a search for a new superintendent is usually a six- to eight-month process.

Superintendent John Bach will end his five-year tenure as superintendent at the end of the school year in 2012.