By Elaine Van Develde

Lauded by his former Middletown School District supervisors as a “tremendous communicator, strong in curriculum and special education, a leader whom others follow, a forward thinker, one who is (so incredibly) good at celebrating success, and a master teacher,” Sean McNeil was appointed Fair Haven’s next superintendent for a three-year term, effective July 1.

The official vote was unanimous at a special Fair Haven Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night after Board President Bruce Padula explained to the audience how the 36-year-old McNeil was chosen as former Superintendent Nelson Ribon’s successor and read what he said was the verbatim recommendation from Middletown Superintendent Bill George and another former supervisor of McNeil’s.

“I am overwhelmed at the opportunity and thank you for giving me the consideration and faith,” McNeil said after the vote was taken. “I will eat, sleep and breathe Fair Haven. It is my goal to never let you down.”

Joking that he enjoyed the “grueling” superintendent interview process, McNeil said the work to “prepare for each interview” made him feel closer and closer to the Fair Haven community.

He said he is focused on becoming a part of that community and finding a way to continue “with all the great things you do while at the same time trying to take a look at what’s next for us. I am looking forward to working with the staff, board members and administration in attaining my singular goal of trying to be the person who helps this district become exactly what it should be for Fair Haven.”

With that, the Fair Haven district welcoming tradition of coffee and cake, cupcakes and meeting and greeting ensued. And McNeil, whose family was present, signed his contract.

The process …

Board President Bruce Padula, as he opened Tuesday’s meeting, explained the process involved in hiring McNeil.

A letter was funneled to the community outlining the entire process of hiring a new superintendent and asking for feedback on what qualities were most sought after in the district’s next top administrator.

The feedback on what the community was looking for was funneled to the board. In the end, what people in the borough wanted in a superintendent was someone with “classroom experience, a good communicator, someone who’s trustworthy, honest, fair, approachable, genuine, a good listener and strong,” Padula said. “In other words, a true leader.”

Throughout January, after Ribon’s December resignation was accepted, the board solicited search firms. It was ultimately decided to go with none of them.

The board, instead, opted to use it’s attorney, Anthony Spirilla, to conduct the search. Ads were placed in the local daily newspapers and with universities.

By the end of March, at the end of that process, there were 37 applicants from all over New Jersey and a few from out of state.

Each board member reviewed each of the 37 resumes. After the resume reviews, the 37 candidates were narrowed down to 12 to be interviewed in the first go-around.

After the initial interview of those 12 candidates, three were brought back for a second interview and then two for a third interview.

The district’s principals then met with the two finalists.

McNeil, after final in-school observations, was chosen. Those observations, Padula said, revealed that McNeil exudes “energy and warmth. His involvement in the school was well-known and genuine. The staff and parents know him and love him and did not want to see him go.”

McNeil’s background …

McNeil, a Little Silver native who now lives in Tinton Falls with his wife and two children, comes to Fair Haven from the Middletown School District, one of the largest in the state, where he was most recently principal of Port Monmouth Elementary School for the past six years.

As principal, he “was tasked with and rolled out full-day kindergarten at the district’s 12 schools in less than two months, incorporated new technology, served as the lead administrator in developing a departmentalized approach to elementary instruction for fourth- and fifth-grade students, adopted by all 12 elementary schools, spearheaded the implementation a of research-based wellness initiative,” among other things.

Before his stint as principal of Port Monmouth, McNeil was the district’s supervisor of Early Childhood Education and Autism Services for 18 months.

And prior to that, he was a classroom teacher in Middletown.

The Red Bank Regional High School graduate has a master’s degree in special education from New Jersey City University in Jersey City and got his bachelor’s degree from University of Delaware, Newark DE.

McNeil plans on spending time in Fair Haven schools hosting informal chats with staff and parents before he officially heads to the office in July. His annual salary starts at $135,000.