Camden school district announces plans to search for new superintendent
The Camden School District has launched a search to replace outgoing Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs, who is leaving June 30.
The Camden School District plans to conduct a national search for a new schools chief to replace outgoing Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs.
The search is scheduled to begin in June and take months, the district said in an announcement. A new superintendent is expected to start in November.
State Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer will select the new superintendent with approval from the state Board of Education. The Camden school advisory board has no say.
For the first time since the state took control of Camden schools in 2013, there will be a search for a superintendent, and it will include a survey and community forums for residents to give input.
“We are committed to a transparent and inclusive search process that involves engagement from our families, staff, students, and community partners. The goal is to identify a forward-thinking, experienced leader who shares our values and is committed to putting students first,” the district said.
The search will be spearheaded by Hazard Young Attea Associates, an executive search firm. A district spokesperson said the state will cover the cost of hiring the firm. The amount was not available.
According to a timeline released by the district Thursday, a survey of residents, students and staff will be conducted through June 11. Focus groups will be held beginning June 2.
A leadership profile of characteristics desired in a potential superintendent will be presented to the advisory board and then the search firm will begin recruiting and screening candidates.
The application deadline is Aug. 1, with interviews and a finalist selected by September. The new superintendent would tentatively start Nov. 1.
“This should have been the process,” said community activist Ronsha Dickerson. “We need to have a full discussion on the next superintendent.”
Camden Education Association president Pamela Clark said she hoped all union leaders would be included on the selection committee. She envisions a superintendent who is transparent and “able to agree to disagree with professionalism and respect.”
According to the job listing, the superintendent will be paid between $200,000 and $250,000 annually to run the district, which has about 7,000 students enrolled in 16 schools.
After the state takeover, then-Gov. Chris Christie appointed Paymon Rouhanifard to turn around the city’s struggling schools. He was the first outsider to run the district.
McCombs got the job when Rouhanifard stepped down in 2019 and was reappointed in 2022. She had served in his administration as a deputy superintendent for four years and largely continued the changes he made.
Some critics say McCombs, like her predecessor, focused too much on the city’s Renaissance and charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run. Thousands of students have fled the traditional public schools.
It was not clear Thursday whether the state plans to appoint an acting superintendent until a permanent person is named.
McCombs announced in March that she would step down June 30. The veteran educator has spent her entire 30-year career in Camden.
She has accepted a position as an acting assistant commissioner with the state Department of Education. State officials said McCombs’ departure was by “mutual agreement” between her and the state.
McCombs’ departure comes after several top Camden officials, including Mayor Victor Carstarphen, called for her ouster. The officials said they believed Camden schools needed a new direction.
“I wanted to be here. I never wanted to leave,” McCombs said at a board meeting earlier this month. She began her career in the classroom as a kindergarten teacher.
Her departure comes at a tumultuous time in the South Jersey school system, which has been plagued over the years by chronic absenteeism, failing test scores, and a high dropout rate
In April, McCombs announced that nearly 300 positions would be cut to close a $91 million budget deficit for the upcoming school year. The affected positions include teachers, counselors, clerks, custodians, security officers, and senior managers and directors.
She cited the loss of millions in COVID relief funds and declining enrollment. Payments to charter and Renaissance schools have increased, rising from $54.9 million in the 2013-14 school year to $198 million for the 2025-26 school year.
The district must make improvements in the five areas evaluated by the state to determine when local governance will resume: instruction, programs, fiscal, governance, and personnel. It is unclear when the state will relinquish its control over the school system.