BOE Interviews New Superintendent Candidates

Members of the Moorestown Board of Education spent several hours behind closed doors Wednesday night interviewing new candidates for superintendent.

The board after the withdrew his name from consideration, according to Board President Don Mishler, who declined to explain why the candidate dropped out.

That left the board with three options: start the search process over, find an interim superintendent, or a combination of the two.

Mishler said the board interviewed three candidates Wednesday for a permanent position as superintendent.

He wouldn’t say whether the candidates were in-house or otherwise, but said, “We haven’t interviewed any of these people before.”

, Mishler said conducting a traditional search now—after the district’s first attempt failed—would be very difficult.

“There’s a natural employment cycle for superintendents. We’re outside of that cycle,” he said. “Doing a full-fledged traditional search, you’re better off waiting until November.”

He acknowledged the current search being undertaken by the board is not “traditional.” They’re not using a professional search firm——and instead have developed a pool of candidates through “word of mouth.”

The board president was criticized for using that term earlier this month, but defended himself by suggesting word of mouth is how many people find and get jobs.

“That’s the way the world works,” he said.  

Mishler said the board “came to no real conclusions” from the interviews Wednesday evening—which were held at the Lutheran Home on Main Street, the site of the board’s annual retreat—and said they’ll probably schedule another round of interviews with the same group of candidates for next week.

“I think (the interviews) were fruitful,” he said. “But it’s not time to pick the fruit yet.”

He said no specific deadline has been established for hiring a candidate.

Superintendent John Bach will end his five-year tenure at the end of the 2012 school year.