Cliffside Park Board appoints new high-school principal after personnel committee interviews

The Cliffside Park Board of Education voted on July 10 to appoint Mister Genussi as principal of the high school, with the appointment recorded as effective July 16 and noted in the meeting as having been backdated one day.

The superintendent told the board that resumes were solicited for the position, that a personnel-committee Zoom meeting reviewed applicants, and that the superintendent and Missus Calabrese conducted face-to-face interviews with in-house candidates before the committee recommended a candidate. "We did have multiple resumes come in," the superintendent said, "There were a couple in-house candidates as well as out of district candidates. We did have face to face interviews... we both settled on, we felt is an excellent choice to lead the high school."

A motion to approve the superintendent’s recommended resolution was made and seconded and carried in a roll-call vote. Several board members voted yes; the meeting record notes at least one abstention because a board member disclosed a Form 1 conflict. The motion was recorded as approved.

During the public portion of the meeting, a board member offered extended praise for the newly appointed principal, saying the candidate ‘‘knows curriculum... knows instruction... knows best practice’’ and described prior supervisory experience with the appointee. That praise was delivered by a board member who is not named in the transcript.

The appointment follows a personnel-committee process that board members described as including resume review, a Zoom meeting of committee members, and face-to-face interviews for internal candidates. The superintendent said the committee recommendation was unanimous.

Next procedural steps were not specified in the public portion of the transcript; the board moved to conclude the public session and proceed with the remaining agenda.