School Board Will Name New Superintendent Monday

After weeks of suspense, the Montclair Board of Education will announce the name of the new schools superintendent at a public meeting on Monday evening, School Board President Robin Kulwin said Wednesday.

"I'm very very pleased," she said.

The process began in March when the of a search firm, Ray and Associates, Inc., to help find and hire a new superintendent at a cost of $16,500.

Finally, in July, the school board announced that the search was nearing an end, with the pool of applicants totaling 73.

"We did have a good group and it was a nationwide search but not everyone would have been a good fit for Montclair," Kulwin said.

, who announced in February that he'd be retiring after nine years in the position.

Only a few years ago, the school board approved a new five-year contract for Alvarez that extended from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2014.

That contract called for Alvarez to remain at a salary of $216,083 for two years.

In March, , but that he'd been hired to replace long-time district superintendent Edward Shine in the Rye City School District.

Alvarez is one of many New Jersey superintendents that have retired or are leaving the state, mostly as a result of salary caps imposed by the administration of Gov. Chris Christie.

The caps establish salaries for top school officials depending on the size of the district. The top scale for those in districts with between 5,000-10,000 students—such as Montclair—is $175,000 with the cap dropping to as low as $135,000 for the smallest districts.

Monday night's naming of a new superintendent will put an end to at least one personnel saga. The district also is looking for a business administrator to replace Dana Sullivan, a curriculum director to replace Dr. Lydia Furnari, a Mount Hebron Middle School principal to replace Guy Whitlock and—as of Monday night—

Monday night's meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of the George Inness Annex of the Montclair High School at 141 Park Street.

So who do you think will be named superintendent? Any ideas? Let us know in the comments section below.