Superintendent Koos Resigns After Months of Sick Leave

Just one year after being hired at a $135,000 annual salary, Bedminster Township Public Schools Superintendent Carolyn Koos has resigned.

The Board of Education is intending to name an acting superintendent at a meeting next Thursday night, said school Business Administrator Philip Acosta.

Koos had already been out of her position for several months, beginning in February, due to an unspecified sick leave. She is not now working in the district, Acosta said on Thursday.

The Board of Education, which held a special meeting on Wednesday night to accept Koos' resignation, placed a statement on the Board of Education website on Thursday: 

"Due to a series of unfortunate medical and family issues, Ms. Koos has tendered her resignation as Superintendent, which will become effective at the close of business on December 31, 2013.

The Board has accepted her resignation and the parties agreed that she shall be on a leave of absence through the effective date of resignation. We wish her well," the statement concluded. 

The board is scheduled to name an acting superintendent at a meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. next Thursday at the school, Acosta said.

Acosta said that Koos is not expected to return to work before her resignation officially takes effect at the end of this year, he said.

The preK-grade 8 school district's previous superintendent, Andrew Rinko, had been in the position for 11 years, Acosta said.

During her time on the job, Koos also was accused of plagiarism in two letters sent to the Bedminster community. However, the board discussed its concerns with Koos and were satisfied she understood the mistake, according to a statement in January from board president Louis Casella.

Casella said the board has reviewed the issues surrounding two letters sent to the Bedminster community that were found to be possibly plagiarized from other superintendents. In one, concerning a letter posted just after the new year, Koos has said it was a case of making a mistake with regard to attribution of the words taken from a superintendent in Iowa.