By MADDY VITALE
The search for a new Ocean City superintendent of schools is underway and is moving along at a good pace, officials said Tuesday.
“We completed the first round of interviews and plan to have a second round in the upcoming weeks,” Board of Education President Chris Halliday said.
But the first day of school on, Sept. 5, students — there are about 2,000 of them combined in the primary, intermediate and high schools — will see a new face leading the district, Dr. Scott McCartney. He was hired and approved by the school board in June as the interim superintendent and his first day on the job was July 1.
“Thursday is Dr. McCartney’s first official board meeting,” Halliday noted, of the meeting at the high school that begins at 7 p.m.
The district has not had a long-term leader since Kathleen Taylor retired in August of 2021, after 15 years of service. McCartney, of Egg Harbor Township, will fill the role of superintendent of schools in the district until a permanent superintendent is hired.
Interim Superintendent Tom Baruffi filled the void until the district hired Matthew Friedman as schools superintendent in June of 2022.
Friedman resigned at the end of March to become superintendent of the Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County, Pa.
In a letter dated Aug. 1 sent to parents and guardians, McCartney spoke of the dedication of parents, guardians and faculty in the district.
He said that it is “abundantly clear” there are many people who genuinely care about and work hard to provide top quality education and a setting by which each student can do their best work.
That being said, he emphasized in the letter, that over the past few weeks he has met with stakeholders to go over the educational system in place in the district and see where things work well and also “make new pathways for implementation.”
One of the commitments is to “help develop a “Portrait of a Graduate” of POG.
“In addition to POG, we will engage in conversations around perspective and how that should shape our work in the classroom, in our fields of play, on our stages, how we interact with each other and across all aspects of the district,” McCartney said in the letter. “This focus on perspective helps us all to assess, analyze and build better plans to meet the needs of our students.”
McCartney began his administrative career as a vice principal in Hamilton Township Public Schools in Mays Landing, school officials said.
Over a 15-year span, he served as superintendent of Dennis Township School District, assistant superintendent and superintendent of Egg Harbor Township School District, and superintendent/principal in Downe Township in Cumberland County.
McCartney also served as superintendent of Moorestown Township Public Schools, a high-achieving district in Burlington County, before retiring in June 2021. Among his honors, he was the 2015 NJASA (New Jersey Association of School Administrators) Southern Regional Superintendent of the Year.
McCartney said he is looking forward to his role as interim superintendent in Ocean City.
“I am excited for September 5, as we welcome our students back to the Primary, Intermediate and High Schools,” he noted. “Our commitment to excellence mindset, coupled with the outstanding administration, faculty staff and students will lead to an outstanding 2023-24 school year.”
For more information about Ocean City schools visit oceancityschools.org.
