New Superintendent Should Be Named Next Month

School Board President Robin Kulwin said Monday that board members are nearing the end of the hiring process and that they are "optimistic" a new schools superintendent will be announced in August, and in place by October 1, 2012.

In addition, she believes the plan is to soon hire an interim business administrator—a position that's been advertised—and then allow the new superintendent to make the permanent hire.

The Montclair Public School system has been without a permanent superintendent, a principal at Mount Hebron Middle School and—as of September 1, 2012—a business administrator.

In February,  he would be stepping down as superintendent of the Montclair district after nine years on the job. Only a few years ago, the Montclair Board of Education revealed that it had approved a new five-year contract for Alvarez that extended from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2014. That contract called for Alvarez to remain at a salary of $216,083 for two years.

Then, in March, Alvarez told school board members that he had been hired to replace long-time district superintendent Edward Shine in the Rye City School District.

Clarence Hoover took over as interim superintendent on July 1 as school officials continued their push to hire a permanent superintendent.

Two months after Alvarez' announcement, in May, school officials announced that Mount Hebron Middle School Principal Guy Whitlock was being transferred to the school district's Central Office.

Whitlock, who taught Social Studies and Language Arts at Mount Hebron during the 1990s before serving as the assistant to Superintendent Alvarez, took over as principal in July 2010.

Earlier this month, Hoover released a statement saying that the search continues for someone to replace Whitlock as principal.

"We're not absolutely satisfied with the candidates we've had so far," Alvarez said a few weeks ago. "We'll be going out again for that search."

Then, in mid-July, school officials announced that Terry Trigg-Scales, a former assistant principal at Mount Hebron, had been named interim principal of Mount Hebron Middle School. In an email to parents and staff, Hoover said Trigg-Scales started her duties on July 18.

Finally, in June, Dana Sullivan, who has been Montclair's business administrator for 15 years, announced she was leaving in September to take the position of business administrator for the Westfield school district.

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