3 Remain in Search for Moorestown Superintendent

Moorestown is one step closer to landing its next superintendent after a series of recent interviews has narrowed the crop of candidates down even further.

Board of Education President Don Mishler said the subcommittee guiding the search for the district’s top administrator interviewed four candidates in the last 30 days and will recommend three of those individuals be re-interviewed by the full board early next year.

Mishler said all three are retired former superintendents at school districts similar to Moorestown. Each candidate has at least 25 years of experience in education, he said, and all got their start as classroom teachers.

Though the board is seeking an interim replacement—due to the scarcity of permanent candidates on the market as a result of the state-imposed cap on superintendent salaries—Mishler said two of the individuals already interviewed could potentially be permanent superintendents.

New Jersey law prohibits retired employees collecting state pension from securing employment that lasts more than two years post-retirement. The candidates in question however, Mishler explained, are retired in Pennsylvania, and thus not subject to New Jersey’s pension law.

“We didn’t go in knowing (we’d find permanent candidates), but that’s what we found,” he said.

Mishler has described the interim superintendent as someone who will be more of a "caretaker"—capable of guiding the district and keeping it on the course that's already been set—but said, “That doesn’t mean (the board) wouldn’t ask somebody to shake things up if we thought they needed to be shook.”

And if the interim superintendent doesn't pan out as a permanent replacement—if the board decides to go that route—the district has other avenues it can pursue.

Mishler said, “We also believe we have internal candidates for superintendent, whether with us or somewhere else.”

He said the earliest the board will be able to interview the remaining candidates is sometime after the Jan. 7 reorganization meeting, where the new board members will be sworn in.

Lynn Shugars, acting superintendent and business administrator, is also expected to give a budget presentation at the Jan. 7 meeting, according to Mishler.