Temporary solution for principal problem
Board to name interim administrator before school year begins
By JOHN BURTON
Staff Writer

RED BANK — Whether temporary or permanent, there will be a principal at the Red Bank middle and upper elementary schools when the school year begins.

Board of Education members and district officials thought that principal would be Dr. Henry Major Poteat, the school’s former vice principal.

They learned that would not be the case when Poteat informed them that he had accepted another position with the school district in Harrisburg, Pa.

He reportedly pursued that position when the board failed to act quickly to name him to the position after the school’s previous principal, Dr. Dorothy Carcamo, took over as the district director of curriculum and staff development.

Poteat’s resignation came shortly after Yvonne Marti De Daniels stepped down from her position as principal of the primary school to accept a job outside the district.

Despite the upheaval, district officials assured concerned parents at a special meeting last week that the district would continue heading in the right direction.

"We’re serious about this; we’re not losing the ground we have made," said Dr. J. Michael Rush, the district’s superintendent.

Rush said he has already been in contact with the state’s Principals and Supervisors Association, for help in finding a qualified retired administrator to function on an interim basis, while he searches for a qualified candidate for a permanent position.

The board has authorized Rush to hire an interim principal.

"We will do what we have to do," said the superintendent.

At a special meeting July 26, the board announced its new principal for the primary school.

Karen Leoncavallo, who had been an assistant principal with the South Orange-Maplewood district, has been on the job in that post since Aug. 1.

To help the transition, as well as aiding the new principal, Rush recommended the board consider hiring an assistant to the principal for the primary school.

The school will be facing additional demands this year as the fourth-grade-students will be moving over there while the middle school is undergoing renovations, Rush said.

The details of the new position — salary range, title, job description — would have to be worked out prior to the board’s consideration of any applicants. Rush said he would work on that and have something prepared by the regular meeting Aug. 21.