District Finds Temporary Fix to Curriculum Director Vacancy

With a viable candidate failing to emerge for the curriculum director position left vacant by Cheryl Best, the board of education took two final steps at its lone summer meeting Tuesday night to ensure that preparatory work for the school year will be completed before September.

According to Superintendent Frank Romano, the search that began in early May, following the board’s April decision not to renew Best’s contract, has gone through three separate stages and candidate pools in the intervening months. 

Revisions to the job search over the last two months have included changing the title from curriculum director to curriculum supervisor in an effort to broaden the pool, and Romano said on Tuesday night that another revised search for an interim curriculum director pooled only six candidates.

A few of the applicants, he noted, have been viable candidates that decided to remain in their jobs or take gigs in other districts.

The board passed a resolution in June giving Romano the ability to hire temporary staff over the summer, a standard procedure, he said, given the few summer board meetings where approval of an emergency hire could be made.

But that scenario aside, on Tuesday the board approved two eighth grade teachers to write math curriculum and another teacher to do media curriculum work. In June, the board also approved five middle school teachers to prepare language arts curriculum.

“At this point it’s running very well,” Romano said, noting that the contingency had been planned by Best before she left the district.

Some of the additional responsibilities of the curriculum director, such as planning professional development and new teacher orientations, are being handled by his office as well as administrators at the schools, he said.

“We’re certainly not getting everything done, but we’re getting everything we need for a successful school opening,” Romano said.

The search will continue, he said, and the district hopes to find a permanent staff member to take up the responsibilities of the curriculum director position early in the school year.

“This is a temporary solution to a temporary circumstance.”