Monday's special meeting was canceled after both candidates withdrew their names
TRENTON -- Hours before a decision was to be made on Monday night about who would be chosen as Trenton's next schools superintendent, the school board announced it will reopen its search.
"It's become clear that the search is not at its end," board president Jason Redd said during a press conference with the mayor. "Sometimes a team finds a game-changing player it needs in the first round of the draft and sometimes it becomes obvious they need to go back to the pool. ... We have to go back to the draft to find our game-changer."
A special meeting had been scheduled for Monday to select a candidate and begin contract negotiations, but it was canceled after both candidates withdrew their names from consideration.
The two finalists were Sergio Paez, the former superintendent in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, the former superintendent in Albany, N.Y.
Paez confirmed he withdrew his application late last week, saying the district's internal conflict was concerning.
"Obviously to change and transform an urban district such as Trenton, you're looking for unity and for everyone to be on the same page," he said in a phone interview Monday. "Unfortunately, it was very evident to me that the district is not there to be able to move forward."
Vanden Wyngaard confirmed in an email that she also withdrew her name, but did not elaborate.
Questions and concerns emerged about the two finalists after their names were announced last week and following the public forum and meet-and-greets.
"The two finalists selected received an unenthusiastic response from our community whose resounding input in this process has been invaluable, greatly appreciated and ... absolutely received," Mayor Eric Jackson said, acknowledging that he had expressed positives and negatives about both candidates after meeting with them.
The candidates were chosen from 34 applicants after a national search, only 29 of whom were deemed worthy of further consideration. The field was narrowed to eight, five and then two finalists.
"We did our due diligence to look at those individuals, to ask the tough questions of them, to ask the tough questions of the folks from where they came from and at that point, the board made the decision to move them forward to meet the community," Redd said.
Naomi Johnson-Lafleur, president of the teachers' union, said there are still lingering concerns about the process that need to be remedied in the next go-around.
"The fact remains that this board put forth two tainted candidates and so the question remains, 'What's wrong with the board?'" she said. "Why are you saying now you want the best product but last week, you said that they were the best products? ... They buckled down to the pressure being put on them by the Trenton community."
The timeline and details of the new search still need to be determined, but Interim Superintendent Lucy Feria will remain in her position until a successor has been appointed.
"We're going to take the lessons learned here so it's not going to be considered a failure," Redd said. "I think the true failure here would have been if we selected the incorrect person and then we're standing up here with the mayor in three years again with the loss of a superintendent."
Jackson said the district continues to make progress, but needs a leader who is committed to moving the schools forward.
"I believe that one of the district's fundamental challenges is continuity of leadership to ensure that effective policies are conceived and efficient operations are executed for many years to come," he said. "We need a superintendent who is not only eminently qualified, but one who will remain here for years and become anchored in our community. This requirement is essential."
Johnson-Lafleur said the search was restricted and failed to include input from the community early on.
"It's not a true national search when you only have 34 candidates and so we have so many candidates that hold superintendent certificates that are looking for that job," she said. "So if you're asking the right questions, you may get the right candidate."
The district's last search in 2012 gathered input at the start from stakeholders about the type of candidate they wanted. The board received applications from 180 candidates, 65 of whom met the criteria, and ultimately chose Francisco Duran, who abruptly resigned in October to take a job in Virginia.
"We need someone who's firm and understands the academia, but we also need someone who knows how to manage exceptionally well," Johnson-Lafleur said.
She said they need to have proven track records in urban education and expertise in addressing issues such as English as a second language, poverty and the so-called school-to-prison pipeline among minorities.
"You can't just say, 'I'm going to address absenteeism,'" she said. "You have to go a little deeper than that because you're not getting to what we need. What are you talking about as far as mentorships and programmatic things that you can help bring here to address our particular challenges?"
Johnson-Lafleur added that the next superintendent also needs to understand the politics of the job and be able to work closely with the state and legislators.
"It's apparent to me that the right questions were not asked, but if they included the stakeholders, those questions would have been asked spot-on," she said. "Until that's done, Trenton, like other urban areas, will continue to have these issues and problems."
Editor's Note: This post was updated to include comments from the teachers' union president.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.