Interim Toms River Schools Superintendent Approved

TOMS RIVER, NJ —Thomas Gialanella will be taking over as interim superintendent of the Toms River Regional Board of Education, after the Board of Education approved a contract for him on Wednesday.

Gialanella, who was granted a leave of absence from his Ocean County College job by the Board of Trustees a week earlier, will take over in the temporary role Jan. 1, following the retirement of David Healy, who announced his plan to step down Sept. 17 after more than six years leading the Toms River schools.

It will be Gialanella's second stint leading the school district; he served as interim for 11 months in 2013-2014, coming to the district after Frank Roselli, who had taken over for disgraced superintendent Michael Ritacco, retired due to health issues.

Gialanella, who retired in 2013 as superintendent of the Jackson Township School District, takes over as the Toms River schools face several challenges, including the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and pressures to both resume full-time in-person instruction and to shift back to fully remote instruction.

The pandemic compounds the serious financial pressures issues the district is facing. The Toms River school district is anticipating its deepest cut under the S2 state aid reductions, estimated at $9 million, at the same time as the district is saddled with an expensive change in the state law governing health benefits for school district staff and working to resolve a contract with the district's teachers.

The contract will pay Gialanella $750 a day to manage the 15,000-student district through June 30, 2021, though that time could be shortened if the school board agrees on a full-time permanent replacement sooner.

How quickly that could happen will depend in part on the new board members who are slated to be sworn into their seats in January. Lisa Contessa and Ashley Palmiere are scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 6, replacing Ginny Rhine and Michael Horgan, both of whom declined to seek re-election. Rhine was one of three board members who voted against allowing Healy to delay his retirement when the hiring process for a new superintendent was disrupted due to the coronavirus. Horgan was one of three members who could not vote due to a conflict. Neither Contessa nor Palmiere have family members working in the district.

Coronavirus update

Ocean County remains in the orange "high risk" category due to the rates of transmission of the coronavirus. As of Sunday, Ocean County had 28,477 cases, up 3,100 from 25,344 on Dec. 12. Toms River has 613 new cases in that time, with 4,723, up from 4,110 on Dec. 12, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

Statewide, New Jersey now has more than 432,000 cases since March, including 5,184 new ones on Sunday, according to the state Department of Health COVID-19 website. As of Saturday, 3,571 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, with 707 in intensive care and 471 patients on ventilators, according to the state COVID-19 website.

More than one in four hospital beds in Ocean County was occupied by a COVID-19 patient as of Dec. 11, according to data from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, numbers that are putting stress on local hospitals. Read more: 1 In 4 Ocean County Hospital Beds Occupied By COVID Patients

Around town

The nor'easter that struck Wednesday into Thursday and dumped significant snow in the north and west parts of the state caused power outages and some localized flooding in Toms River. Read more: Toms River Nor'easter 2020 Impact: Power Outages Linger

The Toms River Township Council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Also:

• Toms River Man Who Stole $100K From Blind Woman Gets 7 Years
• Unattended Menorah Causes Fire In Toms River Home: Inspector
• Woman Found Dead On Toms River Beach Drowned: Prosecutor

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