District needs to get its priorities in order

If practice makes perfect, the Red Bank school system should have no problem finding a new principal for its primary school.

Finding one that sticks around for more than a year or two is another matter.

In recent years, it seems the district has made the search for a new principal for either the primary or middle school an annual event.

When the district finds the replacement for the soon-to-depart Steve LaValva, that person will be the fourth principal the school has had since 2000.

While annual change in some situations might not be a problem, it almost has to have a negative effect on the operation of a school.

Every year, the staff of the school has to buy into a new administrator’s plans and priorities, and before much progress can actually be made, they are faced with a whole new set of plans and priorities.

The wasted time and resources that are part of this process are incalculable, and while the district talks continually of improving its curriculum and student outcomes, the lack of momentum from constant starts and stops has to be taking a toll.

The district needs to pick the next principal of the primary school with care, and once that person is in place, it needs — to borrow the district’s slogan — to do whatever it takes to keep that person in place long enough to bring stability to the school.

In the spirit of getting on the right track and staying there, now would be a good time for the district to close the book on any other distractions — chiefly its wasteful and pointless lawsuit against the borough’s charter school.

The school district’s arguments against the charter school have been rejected in every venue in which they have been heard.

At this point, even a judge’s decision in favor of the school board — and that seems highly improbable — would likely do nothing but ensure an appeal from the charter school.

It’s time for the school board to cut the community’s losses; every cent that has been spent trying to shutter the charter school is money that would have been better spent in a classroom.