Saddle Brook Begins Replacement Search for Retiring Superintendent

With Saddle Brook superintendent Kathryn Fedina set to retire when her contract expires at the end of this school year, the district is launching a search for her successor.

Fedina, who has more than 30 years of teaching and administrative experience, was hired to run the district in 2010, after spending five years at the helm of the Henry Hudson Regional School District in Highlands, Monmouth County.

In her first two years in the district, Fedina has overseen the installation of whiteboards and interactive projectors in every classroom and the development of the district's professional development academy for teachers.

While she was named one of six semifinalists for the National Association of School Superintendents' National Superintendent of the Year award in July, Fedina told Patch in the fall that it wasn't until this school year that she really found her comfort zone in Saddle Brook. 

"Research says it takes between three and five years for any educational change to really take effect or show that there is some kind of an improvement or change," she said in September. "You’re spending the first year just listening, learning and trying to put things together. The second year you become more acclimated to the place and to the people. By the third year, you really are ready to start. You have enough information and you know a lot of the things that you need to know to really move forward."

With Fedina now set to depart, the district again faces the challenge of enduring a prolonged transition process with her successor.

Community members are invited to attend and participate in an open superintendent search forum being held Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Middle School/High School Media Center.

Sousa and Stern Educational Consultants, a private firm with experience conducting superintendent searches, will explain the search process and gather community input at the meeting.

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