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Members of the Asbury Park Board of Education selected a new superintendent of schools and filled a vacancy left by a board member who resigned at a special meeting held Wednesday.

Board member Felicia Simmons made a motion to appoint Gregory Allen as the district superintendent of schools for a 5-year contract pending background and reference checks, which was seconded by board member Qzeena Taylor. No salary recommendation was made.

The vote was 6-3. Board members Christian Hall, Nicolle Harris, Kenneth Saunders, Simmons, Taylor and newly appointed member Arva M. Council voted yes. Board President Angela Ahbez-Anderson, Vice President Geneva Smallwood and board member Barbara Lesinski voted no.

After the vote was taken, State Monitor Carol K. Morris made a statement informing the board she would be taking the vote under advisement due to a “seriously flawed” appointment process.

Responsibilities of the state monitor include oversight of all district staffing, which affords them the ability to hire, promote, and terminate employees. By taking the vote under advisement, she will speak to school board authorities in Trenton and will inform the board at a later date whether Allen’s appointment would pass to the county superintendent, who has the final say on all superintendent contracts.

Morris provided several reasons she viewed the selection process as flawed, including possible code of ethics and state Sunshine law violations alleged between board members.

“It is critical that the Asbury Park school district get the best possible candidate for the children of this district,” she said. “That being said, I have to make this statement and advise the board that I have serious concerns and I will be sharing these concerns with [school board] authorities in Trenton,” she said.

“I cannot, as a representative of the state, pass approval on a candidate who has not been vetted and whose references have not been checked,” said Morris. “You have a board member sitting here tonight that didn’t hear either candidate and voted blindly, which is legal but certainly not good boardsmanship.”

While the state of NJ has no interest in selecting the next superintendent candidate for the Asbury Park School District, the state monitor has an obligation to ensure the best candidate is selected through a clean process, Morris said.

That same evening, the board interviewed two residents to fill the seat left by former board member Joseph Raines, Jr., who resigned last month. They selected Arva M. Council. Her appointment will last until the first week in January unless she is voted in during the Nov. 5 board elections, as she is one of five candidates seeking one of three three-year terms.

Allen served at the assistant superintendent of schools in Pleasantville from 2004-2009. Prior to that he served in several administrative positions in Camden, Franklin and Willingboro school discticts, according to a resume posted on jobs website indeed.com. Since 2009, he has been self-employed through his own educational consulting firm.

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