Matawan-Aberdeen Bd of Ed: What are you thinking hiring a P/T school chief?

Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education paid $18,500 tax dollars to a consultant to help them find a new superintendent, and this is the best they can do?? Am I missing something here?

After paying $18,500 to a consultant to help the district find a new school superintendent, you’d think the Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education could do better than hiring a school chief who can work only part time for now. It’s not clear how many days Richard O’Malley will work in the district, but he will be available nights, weekends and holidays, he says. The students and staff of the seven-school, K-12 district deserve more leadership than that.

The board voted 6 to 3 last week to hire O’Malley, chief school administrator in Mountainside, at an annual salary of $173,000 when he is released from his duties in the Union County district. Until then, he will receive $750 a month. Board President Lawrence O’Connell said O’Malley’s skills and talents would be “a breath of fresh air” for Matawan-Aberdeen.

But a three-person board minority rightfully opposed the contract over O’Malley’s part-time status, which they said was ambiguous and didn’t specify his work schedule. They also asked whether he could address the district’s complex issues as a part-timer. Without more specifics, the district’s taxpayers should wonder whether they’re getting enough in return.

Teachers and parents also should question the wisdom of hiring a superintendent from a much smaller district. Mountainside is a K-8 district of about 700 students in two schools. Matawan-Aberdeen has about 3,900 students in seven schools. They also should ask the board why they gave such a long contract, four years, to a superintendent taking on his first large district. It certainly wasn’t in exchange for a lower salary. O’Malley’s annual pay will be about $23,000 higher than the salary of his predecessor, Bruce Quinn, who left in November after serving for five years. Quinn said he resigned, in part, because of disagreements with divided school boards.

The O’Malley hiring reflects that division. The board majority should address the concerns about his part-time status before those divisions deepen and undermine public confidence in the new superintendent.