The consultant running Manville's superintendent search asked residents Monday night what they want in the district's next leader, opening a month of public input before the job is advertised in late November.

Kathleen Helewa, a former Warren Township school board member who worked for the New Jersey School Boards Association before starting her own search firm in 2023, is facilitating the search for the Manville Board of Education. Interim Superintendent Robert Mooney has led the district since Jamil Maroun left at the end of August.

"I am not the decision maker at any stage of the game," Helewa told the small group that attended. She said her job is to gather the information the board needs to choose. Board members stayed away at her request so residents could speak with her directly.

Helewa asked residents about the district's strengths, its biggest challenges now and five years from now, and what changes the next superintendent should consider early on. She also asked what experience and leadership qualities the board should look for, and what residents would ask candidates if they sat on the board.

The same questions appear in a confidential online survey, open through October 23rd in English (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WFXLXPN) and Spanish (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WFPY67C).

Helewa said her firm runs the survey, so board members cannot see who said what. Sessions for administrators, teachers and staff, and students are scheduled for October 26th. The input will go to the board in a confidential report that will not be made public during the search, which Helewa said keeps candidates from tailoring their answers.

The job advertisement is scheduled to run from November 25th to January 4th. Helewa will screen applicants, and the board plans three rounds of interviews from late January through late February. The Somerset County executive county superintendent must approve the contract before the board votes in public. The board is targeting a March appointment and a start around July 2027.

The search will straddle the November 3rd school board election. Helewa said the current board will help write the advertisement, while the board seated after the election will pick the candidates.

Updates, including the number of applicants once the deadline passes, will be posted in the Superintendent Search section of the district website.