Florence Carter, a member of the Metuchen school district since 1985, was named the next principal of Campbell Middle School at the June 29 Board of Education meeting.

“Mrs. Carter has a sterling reputation in our district as a teacher,” said schools superintendent Terry Sinatra. “She has also been since 2005 an administrative assistant to [Edgar Middle School Principal] Kathryn Glutz. She was an assistant manager in industry and also has done a lot of work with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards… and has been very active in many areas of curriculum and instruction.”

Carter succeeds Robert Gugliara, known in the community as Mr. G, who had been principal of Campbell School for the last 20 years. At the board meeting, Carter’s contract as principal was approved with a July 15 start date.

Sinatra also described the hiring process for the position.

“We solicited applications and received 172 applications, which I proceeded to then paper screen,” Sinatra said. “During this screen I reviewed credentials and qualifications. With that I narrowed it down to three groups: yes, maybe, and no. I then asked Mr. [Paul] Pinero, our Director of Curriculum, and Mr. G, our retiring principal, to take a look at the applicants and do paper screenings as well.”

They agreed on 12 candidates to interview. These candidates were then interviewed by a committee consisting of the aforementioned administrators as well as five other members of the school district, including three teachers.

“We also had developed some [written] questions to ask since we always have had a writing component to our interview process,” Sinatra said. “We decided to present two questions to our candidates while they were in the building to be interviewed, which they could take home and think about and return via email. So we began the interviewing process, and we each decided to ask one or two questions. All of us decided that the questions would cover such things as professional development, curriculum and instruction, teaching and learning, discipline, budget, leadership style, and staff evaluation.”

Each of the 12 original candidates were given the same set of questions, Sinatra said.

“Then as a group we decided to narrow it down to four or five to bring back for a second interview,” she said. “The administrators and I conducted that interview. We then narrowed that down to three. We brought the three finalists to the board, who interviewed them. Prior to their presentation to the board, reference checks were conducted. After that interview by the board, we reached a consensus that the recommendation would be for Florence Carter to be the next principal of Campbell School.”

At the meeting, Carter thanked the board and said that she had worked “tirelessly” for the last 24 years as a member of the school district.

“I don’t intend for any of us to be disappointed,” she said. “Before each stage of the interview process I would call my mom and ask her to start praying. And all that I can say is, thanks Mom, it worked. And thank you to the board of education for this opportunity.”

During the public comments portion of the meeting, one member of the public who could not be identified stated that though she welcomed Carter’s appointment as Campbell School principal, she urged the board to become involved earlier in the selection process.

The board did not question applicants for the position of Campbell School principal until the final three candidates had been vetted by the superintendent and a committee of several other administrators and teachers.