TOMS RIVER – During a special meeting, the Toms River Board of Education finally chose a new superintendent: High School South Principal Michael Citta.
The meeting was held on February 2, Groundhog Day, and since there had been many failed attempts to choose a superintendent, residents wondered if they would see another six weeks without a school leader.
Citta thanked the board, administration, staff, and families after being chosen.
He said he’s worked 24 years in the district, and “I promise not to let anyone down.”
The district will focus on the whole student – academics, special activities, emotional wellbeing and more, he said.
“The bar is high and we set it,” he said.
Over the last few years, there have been challenges that the district, and its students have faced, he said, not the least of which were the pandemic and the state aid cuts. He said he will lead the district out of these difficult times. In doing so, he will enlist the help of all the stakeholders in the community.
The vote to appoint him was not unanimous. Board members Anna Polozzo and Michele Williams voted no. The rest congratulated him.
Board member Lisa Contessa said it was “well worth the wait.”
Board member Ashley Lamb took a moment to recognize all the applicants who made it to the final round.
“The Citta family has a history of service to the community,” she said.
One school in the district is named after his grandfather.
Board President Jennifer Howe thanked the administration for holding down the fort while this decision was made.
David Healy retired from the superintendent position, with the end of 2020 as his last days. At one point, he changed his mind and wanted to stay on a few more months, but the board denied it. He originally came to the district in 2014.
Thomas Gialanella was chosen as interim superintendent by the Board of Education. Previously, he had been the superintendent for Jackson and served as an interim for Brick. He also served as interim superintendent the last time Toms River had a superintendent search.
Then, retired Jackson Superintendent Stephen Genco filled in as the interim Superintendent of Toms River Schools.
So, the district has been without a permanent leader for about 13 months.
There had been attempts to vote for a superintendent during that time.
Six of the board members wanted to promote assistant superintendent James Ricotta. However, two of those members can’t vote on it. Joseph Nardini and Kathleen Eagan have to abstain because they have conflicts of interest, which usually denotes a family member working for the district. Citta hugged Ricotta after he was chosen.
There have been accusations that three of the board members are being influenced politically in their choices. Specifically, Kevin Kidney, Ashley Lamb and Lisa Contessa were accused of being pushed by Toms River Councilman Daniel Rodrick to vote for James Altobello, director of secondary instruction for the Hamilton School District.
Rodrick has said publicly that he did not influence the board members.
With this 4-3 split, they could not reach a majority vote of five.
Citta’s name had been in the running for some time but had been dropped out of an earlier cycle.
