District Superintendent Search Is ‘Absolutely Nowhere’

According to the Mahwah school district , the prospects of finding a permanent Superintendent  anytime soon are not good. Since Dr. Charles Montesano Mahwah has been under the direction of .

When prompted by a question from a member of the public at a board of education meeting earlier this month, Board President Tricia Shada said the search for a new Superintendent was “absolutely nowhere. The pickings are more than slim.”

Shada and the school’s administration blamed a new Superintendent salary cap for the lack of candidates for the job.

The cap, imposed by the state last year, limits the superintendent salary to $167,500, plus some potential for merit-based pay increases, district Business Administrator Ed Deptula said.

According to Shada, many of the current superintendents in other districts are staying put “because they are in the middle of three-to-five year contracts that are not affected by the new cap. We are hoping that in a year or two, as some of their current contracts expire, more viable candidates will want to come.”

Deptula said that because the cap is statewide, trouble finding a permanent superintendent is “not unique to Mahwah.” According to an NJ.com report, 26 superintendents in Bergen County retired after the 2010-2011 school year.

The Mahwah school district hired its last summer, after the board said a superintendent search didn’t yield any candidates who were “the right fit for Mahwah.” Lake can serve in the role for a maximum of two school years.