School board president: This is a bit of a bomb dropped on us
OCEAN CITY – Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christian Angelillo “dropped a bomb” on the Ocean City Board of Education Thursday evening, catching members by surprise by announcing his plans to retire at the end of the school year.
Angelillo, 53, who will finish his two-year tenure in the district in July, said this is his last stop, that he is not leaving for another job.
School Board President Kevin Barnes said the district will gear up quickly to search for a new superintendent with the hope of getting one in place for the new school year that begins in September.
The Ocean City School District went through a revolving door of superintendents in recent years after the retirement of longtime superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor.
Angelillo was hired in March 2024 after a rough time in district history.
The K-12 district was without permanent leadership in the 2021-22 school year after Taylor retired in summer 2021. An interim superintendent served for a year before the district hired Dr. Matthew Friedman, who ran the district for the 2022-23 school year, but Friedman left for another district after a tumultuous one-year tenure.
Friedman began searching for a new job not long after accepting the Ocean City position, a fact that led to considerable strife in the district and community.
Another interim superintendent served for the fall of 2023 while a search for a superintendent was conducted but was not able to come up with a candidate. The search began anew in 2024 under interim Terry Crowley Sr., father of Ocean City Council President Terry Crowley Jr.
Angelillo, who came with 29 years of experience in education, was hired with great fanfare. Before coming to Ocean City, his most recent posting was in Boonton, a town of just under 9,000 people in Morris County. He was the superintendent of the K-12 Boonton School District, which had an enrollment of about 1,450 students in the 2020-21 school year.
Angelillo told the school board about his decision in executive session and it became public at the end of Thursday’s school board meeting when Barnes asked for a motion accepting Angelillo’s retirement “with deep regret” effective July 1.
The board accepted it unanimously.
Angelillo did not explain details of his decision, but said he became very reflective as a professional “when you’re thinking about the next phase and exactly what that means.”
He said he would be explaining his decision to staff, parents and the community.
“Decisions like this are never made in the vacuum,” he said. “I can say that I have never been more proud to be in a district than I have in Ocean City.
“You have shown a wonderfully remarkable degree of confidence in me these last couple of years,” he told the board.
He said the community welcomed him with open arms and made him feel part of the community.
“This staff here, the administrative team, everyone is truly top notch. I think that we’re on a trajectory for real success. And I’m confident that whoever is here for you next will continue us on that path,” Angelillo said.
Barnes said Angelillo delivered on what he promised and that he saw him as a leader from day one. He told him the district appreciated everything he has done. “We’ve had a good captain who has really increased the health of the district,” he said.
“This is a bit of a bomb dropped on us,” Barnes said of how he caught the board by surprise.
“Good or bad, we have a lot of experience on this board with hiring somebody now. We really intend to jump on this quick,” he said.
Barnes said it was too early to give time frames on the process, but planned to get the job listing posted as early as Friday.
“We are going to act very diligently, very quickly, however, we’re not going to settle,” Barnes said. “If we don’t find the next CSA that really convinces us that he or she is the next leader, then we will have to come up with a plan B. Right now, the idea is to get somebody in place and have them start for the new school year, if not earlier year.”
He called choosing a superintendent the most important duty a school board can have.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff