Kuder Named Interim Schools Superintendent

Acting Wyckoff schools Superintendent Richard Kuder will continue in the district's top post for the foreseeable future.

Kuder was unanimously appointed interim superintendent at the school board's Monday meeting, prompting a round of applause from the audience. Kuder's term, at $180,000 annually, will last through the 2010-11 school year, unless the board acts to hire a permanent superintendent before next June.

"Thank you to those who have come and said some of the things about me ....one generally doesn't hear those things unless one is retiring or at a eulogy," Kuder said, jokingly, in reference to the outpouring of support displayed by the community.

"I feel like a blessed person. This job has never been about me, it's always been about the kids and what's right for them. 

"I look forward to the interim role in the weeks and months ahead," he said.

Kuder, formerly the principal of Eisenhower Middle School, was selected from among three applicants interviewed by the full Board of Education, which met privately last week and prior to Monday's meeting to come to a decision on the appointment.

"I'm confident that we do have the best interim here," said board member Thomas Giamanco. "We have looked; we have found the best."

Board President Anthony Robert Francin said "the right decision was to appoint Rich Kuder as interim superintendent."

Francin and Giamanco were on opposite sides of a vote two weeks ago to appoint Kuder, which fell 4-3. The members in the majority objected to a move by member Elizabeth DeGregorio to appoint Kuder before other candidates were interviewed. Kuder has served in the acting superintendent role since former Superintendent Dr. Janet Razze went on medical leave in April.

Francin (who voted to appoint Kuder two weeks ago) alluded to that vote Monday, saying there "may have been a misperception" among the public about the split vote. Speaking on behalf of the board, he said the failed motion should not have been taken as commentary on Kuder's fitness for the role.

The public was quite vocal that night, with parents, teachers and administrators speaking in support of Kuder. "The board members heard that very well," Francin said, helping to guide deliberations on Monday's appointment.

Kathy Bowers, Wyckoff Education Association president, thanked the board Monday for "placing the best person in that seat for the next year."

The interim appointment is just one piece of a personnel puzzle resulting from Razze's retirement. The board must decide how to approach a search for a permanent superintendent, with Francin saying that the board has looked at two private firms in addition to the New Jersey School Boards Association to help guide the search. A decision has not yet been made on a firm, though.

Also, the board may have to hold a special meeting before July 1 to act on Eisenhower Middle School's administrators. 

Kuder's earlier appointment as acting superintendent left a vacancy at the top of the Eisenhower organizational chart, filled by Stephen Raimo, Eisenhower's assistant principal. Robin Shean, Eisenhower's supervisor of special projects, moved up to fill the acting assistant role. However, both of their "acting" terms are set to expire on June 30.

Francin said the board hasn't yet discussed the "domino effect," as Giamanco termed it, resulting from Kuder's appointment but will have to act in the very near future on those positions.