Curriculum Director's Replacement Will Likely be Temporary

Due to a relatively small and inexperienced pool of applicants for the position, the replacement for outgoing curriculum director Cheryl Best will likely be an interim, Franklin Lakes Superintendent Frank Romano said.

After the school board opted not to renew Best’s contract in April, the district posted the opening May 7 and Romano presented what he called an “aggressive timeline” to zero in on a candidate by the summer that included meetings with parents and the assembly of a search committee to interview candidates.

But Romano said the job description changed two weeks into the search, as the district dealt with a smaller than average pool of candidates, none of whom had experience as a sitting curriculum director.

“We’re just not getting high numbers, and we’re not getting people with practical experience as curriculum directors,” he said.

The job description changed to “supervisor of curriculum,” he said, a technicality that was expected to broaden the pool because the position requires less stringent certification.

“The only viable candidate we had shifted,” Romano said, explaining that the after expressing interest in both the curriculum director post and Woodside Avenue principal position recently filled by the board the only applicant right for the job took a gig elsewhere as a principal.

Romano said that two weeks ago, the district transitioned its search to focus on finding an interim, which he hoped would broaden the pool by attracting candidates not necessarily interested in a long-term, tenure track position.

He said he is confident that the district will be able to fill the position over the summer.