Five school superintendents in Monmouth County are planning to leave their jobs, including leaders of the two largest districts in the county. The wave of departures comes amid budget cuts and a rise in public criticism on social media. The departures also come after the COVID-19 pandemic altered public education and as increasingly politicized school boards have divided educators and communities.
Charles Sampson, superintendent at Freehold Regional High School District, who is due to step down in the fall, said his departure “had nothing to do with COVID or any board politics or anything like that.” He will be taking up a position as a superintendent in New York, where he said working more directly with his board of education will offer a different freedom than he has here.
But Sampson and other departing superintendents say the rise in commentary on social media has definitely added to the pressures of the job.
