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A group of Asbury Park residents discussed the major strengths and weaknesses of the Asbury Park school system last night during a community forum intended to gauge what the community is looking for in a superintendent.

Kathy Winecoff, a field service representative for the New Jersey School Boards Association, facilitated the meeting. Winecoff will also serve as a consultant in the search process.

The Board of Education elected not to extend the contract of current superintendent Dr. Denise Lowe. Lowe’s contract expires June 30. It is expected a new superintendent will be hired by Aug. 19 and begin work by Oct.1, according to the Board of Education superintendent search calendar.  The board is also in the process of conducting interviews for an interim superintendent to serve from July 1 to Oct. 1, according to Winecoff.

The search began in early April. May 13 was the deadline to submit an application.

The district received 36 total applications for the position. Two candidates have withdrawn from the search.

Winecoff’s main goal for the meeting was to get those in attendance to answer five specific questions:

• What are the strengths and achievements of the Asbury Park School District and community?

• What critical issues will the school face in the next 3-4 years?

• What background/training/experience should the new superintendent have?

• What leadership style/personal characteristics are important in a new superintendent?

• If you could ask the candidate one question what would you ask?

“Your input to me is helpful in developing interview questions for the candidates,” said Winecoff. Winecoff is in the process of compiling questions from the meetings and forums she is conducting, as well as from surveys she has put online.

Felicia Simmons voiced concerns about the need for a superintendent that truly cares about the district, not just someone seeking a paycheck.

“Everybody needs to be held accountable, from the superintendent to the board to the parents – and even the kids,” said Simmons. Simmons is one of the candidates running in the November Board of Education election.

“It takes six people in this district to bring about change – six – to make a district go right, five board members on the same page, and the superintendent,” said Remond Palmer, a former Board of Education member.

“There is a question here, ‘what critical issues will the school face in the next three to four years?’ Extinction,” said Palmer. “[T]hat is your reality. Extinction. Because are we doing enough to provide an education and exposure to our kids in this community? The answer to that is ‘no.’”

Concern was also expressed about the need for faculty members and administration to be on the same page in terms of implementing curriculum.

“We talk about ‘buy-in,’ but I don’t understand ‘buy-in,’” said Palmer. “As a superintendent if I tell you this is what you are supposed to do and you are not getting it done, then you’ve got to go.”

“I’m speaking as a parent who is a teacher, as a teacher, I do need to buy into the program that my superintendent and my principal put in,” said Michele Saunders, a parent of two children in the school district. Saunders is also a teacher, but not in the Asbury Park School District.

One of the strengths of the community, according to most in attendance, is the community itself.

“What I love about my community is that we do come out,” said Simmons. “We sit and have in-depth conversations – we  talk about what is going on with our kids for hours and hours, and we have no political gain, we just sit and talk.”

Lynette Barnes, a 2006 graduate of Asbury Park High School and member of the audience, said she will “always remember [her] time at Asbury Park High School as one that stands out.”

“I was born in Neptune, raised in Asbury, went through all Asbury Park schooling and I just graduated from The College of New Jersey,” said Barnes. “So I think that one of the things that stands out in my mind is I think it was the highest percentage of high school graduates in a very long time in 2006.”

Winecoff said one of the biggest strengths of the community was sitting right in the audience as she pointed to Barnes, who has returned to the community to work with the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County during their summer camp.

In the first round of interviews, Winecoff will be taking an active role as a stand-in for one of the members of the Board of Education who has a conflict of interest and cannot participate, she said. During the first round, all of the candidates will be asked the same questions.

“I expect the board will spend between an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes with the candidates they interview in the first round. For the first round everyone will be asked the same set of questions so that the board can get a sense and look from apples to apples at the responses for each of the applicants,” said Winecoff.

“When we move into second round questions, we will be asking more specific questions, so each candidate could possibly be asked a totally different set of questions in the second round of interviews,” said Winecoff.

“Should we move into a third round of interviews or, depending on my sense, as we go through the search process, I may request that we have a third round of interviews and give the candidates wither a topic to research and [give] a small presentation to the board on actual data or information regarding Asbury Park,” said Winecoff.

All of the interview questions will be vetted by the legal team of the New Jersey School Boards Association, according to Winecoff.

“What we are looking for is someone who has experience turning around school districts, because that is really what we need to have happen,” said Winecoff.

Winecoff requested any members of the public who would like to submit answers to the five questions asked at the public hearing can email her at kwinecoff@njsba.org before June 13.

 

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