Moorestown to Begin Search for New Superintendent Next Month

’s search for a new superintendent is expected to begin in earnest next month once the board of education selects a firm to assist in the search.

Board Member Matthew Simeone told the rest of the board Tuesday night he and the other members of the superintendent search committee had met with a handful of firms already and hope to settle on one sometime in October.

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 once the firm was selected, the board would likely create a focus group composed of board members, administrators, teachers, parents and students to establish the criteria for the ideal candidate.

Superintendent John Bach will end his five-year tenure as superintendent at the end of the school year in 2012. Simeone said replacing him would be a “significant challenge. Think of him as the chief executive.”

Bach is resigning as a result of the imposed by Gov. Chris Christie, which restricts superintendents from earning more than the governor’s salary of $175,000.

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

He was unable to provide an estimate on how much the search firm might cost, saying it’s “a very wide range.”