SOMERS POINT — The Somers Point Board of Education has hired veteran schools superintendent Chris Kobik to oversee the district and help find what members hope is a long-term replacement.
In October, the board accepted the resignation of former superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder, who served the remainder of 2023.
After more than five years in Somers Point, she accepted the superintendent position in the Central Regional School District.
Kobik, a former superintendent of the Lower Cape May Regional School District, helped Upper Township find a new school leader last winter when the district replaced longtime superintendent Vince Palmieri.
At the time, Kobik characterized acting superintendents as “short-timers that help transition a district to new leadership,” saying state law provides the opportunity for districts to employ experienced top administrators while seeking a long-term replacement.
“The whole idea is to keep things moving forward in a positive direction,” he told The Sentinel.
In 2019, Kobik retired as superintendent of the Lower Cape May Regional School District, which he served for 30 years. Since that time, he has served as acting superintendent for the Southampton Township School District (January-June 2021), Lumberton Township School District (March-June 2022) and Upper Township School District (January-June 2023), helping each district through the process.
One of Kobik’s priorities will be defining and facilitating the process of finding a long-term superintendent. This will be Kobik’s fifth time through the process, and he feels he has the experience to help the district choose the right person for the job.
“I think that first and foremost, this is one of the most important if not the most important, decisions a board of education makes,” Kobik said last week. “My role is to help walk them through that process, but it’s their decision to make.”
The deadline to accept applications was Feb. 9. The board will be vetting applicants and plans to discuss them during executive session at the meeting Feb. 15 to schedule interviews and all of the details associated with the interview process.
Speaking Feb. 6, Kobik said they already had received “well into double digits of applicants.”
“There seems to be quite a number of people out there searching,” he said.
The district, which educates fewer than 750 students — 360 at Dawes Avenue School, grades preschool to third, and 375 at Jordan Road School, fourth to eighth — has a large population of families and students who are bilingual or speak a primary language that is not English, and Kobik said seeking a bilingual superintendent “is not outside the realm of consideration when it comes to reviewing applicants. It would be one among many criteria that we look for.”
He said the district has “a very conscientious board of education that cares deeply about the school district, recognizes the challenges our community has and are working to meet those challenges.”
Kobik said a hire could happen as early as the March board meeting, noting his term runs through June 30, “so we want to have someone on board at that time.”
Board of Education President Staci Endicott said it’s fantastic to have Kobik on board to assist in the search.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience but he’s only here until the end of June,” she said. “We are looking for the next leader who is going to bring our district and community where we need to go.”
She said student achievement is the district’s top priority.
“We need someone who is going to bring everything together so our students get the best education they can get and our families that are with them get the best educational support,” Endicott said.
The goal is to have the next leader begin work July 1, but that requires having a candidate approved by the Board of Education in March or April so they have 60 days to inform their current employer of plans to leave.
“That has be taken into consideration so they are ready July 1,” Endicott said, noting the board has scheduled special meetings to interview candidates and complete the process in time.
In addition, the district is formulating its budget and must submit its preliminary spending plan to the county by March 20.
She said the board is eager for input from all residents, taxpayers and parents of children who attend the district and that everyone should fill out the needs assessment survey at sptsd.org.
CarneyRay-Yoder was the longest-serving superintendent in many years and provided the most stability the district has had in the past decade.
Prior to her start in July 2018, the district suffered two years without a permanent superintendent and five years of instability.
The Board of Education awarded CarneyRay-Yoder a contract through June 30, 2021, at which time she was the district’s longest-serving top administrator since superintendent Jeffrey Miller left in 2013.
The district had been dealing with a revolving door in leadership since Miller’s retirement, with Carney-Ray-Yoder becoming the fifth person in its top position in five years.
Robert Previti served as interim superintendent for one year following Miller’s retirement. He was followed by Bruce Greenfield, who was interim superintendent until Frank Vogel took over in January 2015.
Vogel, who was seen as a longterm solution, was awarded a five-year contract in 2014 but left to become superintendent of the Hamilton Township School District in July 2016 after just 18 months.
Thomas Baruffi, who previously served as superintendent for both Linwood and Mainland Regional High School districts, was hired as an interim superintendent to replace Vogel, serving through June.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
