East Hanover Interim Leader Jumps Into New Role

East Hanover students are not the only ones with a learning curve this year. After the Board of Education met on August 12 and approved Robert Mooney as their interim superintendent to replace Dr. Joseph Ricca, Mooney lost no time moving into the administration building and getting familiar with his new district.

"We have our opening activities we're doing for the teachers, our orientation for the new teachers, and then we have the walk-throughs we do for the students," Mooney said in his first week on the job.

The district was already in back-to-school mode when Mooney arrived, and he is working hard to get familiar with the layout and administration of each school before students return on Sept. 9.

"We've reviewed the budget situation, which is healthy," he said. "We've reviewed the staffing changes, though I haven't met all those people yet. The main thing we've been doing is getting all the technology sorted--passwords, learning what icons go with which programs, and all that."

Mooney's career has taken him all over northern New Jersey, including Lyndhurst, Clifton, Kearny and St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, his own alma mater. Since 2009 he has served as the superintendent of Hawthorne Public Schools.

Mooney retired in June, in part due to the superintendent salary cap enacted by Gov. Chris Christie, which is the same reason why Ricca resigned from his role. This is his first interim position. 

"When you go into a school district as an interim, you're almost pretending that you're going to be there forever," Mooney said. "Whether you're going to be there for two months or twelve or eighteen, you're the superintendent and you do all the superintendent work. I think all the interims are looking at it that way, that you're not so much a fill-in but that you are the superintendent."

The benefit to having interim superintendents who are retired full-time superintendents, he said, is that their learning curves are a little less steep than their younger colleagues, and they can truly help guide and mentor their permanent replacements when the time comes. This is Mooney's goal in East Hanover.

His other goal for the year is similar to those echoed by other school and district leaders throughout northern New Jersey: A year free of any major weather events. 

"Let's hope we don't have anything this year," he said. But if we do, "I believe the schools should be a center for the community to turn to." Just as Ricca opened up East Hanover Middle School as a warming and charging center during Superstorm Sandy, Mooney plans to be here for what the district and community need if there should be a similar storm this year.

"The other thing I'd say people should know about me is that I tend to be a public figure," Mooney said. "I tend to go to the games and the community events and talk to people." That means you can expect to see him at the Columbus Day Parade and at the school plays this year.

Mooney earned both his bachelor's and master's degree from Montclair State University. During his time in East Hanover he will be paid $557.69 per diem. His contract ends June 30, 2014.