Superintendent Search Focus for Somerset Hills Schools

The Somerset Hills Board of Education swore in a new member from Far Hills and re-elected Donna Coons as board president for a fourth year at its reorganization meeting on Wednesday. The new board now faces the real task of the year ahead —  finding a replacement for longtime Schools Superintendent Peter Miller.

Miller is due to retire at the end of this school year. Coons said the district is beginning the search process through the New Jersey School Boards Association, which already has about 20 applicants seeking the position.

The board expects to begin interviewing candidates within the next two weeks, Coons said.

Coons is a resident of Bernardsville. Deborah Hawkins, a resident of the Gladstone section of Peapack-Gladstone, was elected serve as vice-president.

The regional board has one representative from Far Hills, and Susan Petrilli was sworn in to that position on Wednesday.

Petrilli replaces Karen McMahon, who decided not to seek an additional term on the board after serving nine years.

Petrilli said she is a part-time nurse at Gill St. Bernards school in Peapack-Gladstone.