Blackshear to head Camden School Board

In case you missed it, the Camden School Board accepted Tuesday the resignation and buyout of Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young. Read HERE.

Young will remain as the district leader until June 30. No word yet on who will serve as interim, though her deputy superintendent Reuben Mills told me at Wednesday's board meeting he does plan to stay. Also planning to stay is assistant superintendent Andrea Gonzalez-Kirwin. All three arrived in 2007.

The new school board, which assembled itself at Wednesday's reorganization meeting, will have the great task of putting a superintendent search process in place and selecting a new leader, while juggling all the changes coming to the district. The most notable of the changes being the "Renaissance School" projects and the new Regional Achievement Center. More on that HERE and HERE.

At Wednesday's school board meeting, Kathryn Blackshear selected by fellow board members to be board president. Martha Wilson will again serve as vice president of the board.

Wilson told me prior to Wednesday's meeting that she did not want to be board president because her husband Assemblyman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson was a co-sponsor of the Urban Hope Act, which allows for nonprofit entities to build up to four "Renaissance Schools" in Camden. She would rather not have to deal with the conflict of interest issue, she said, and added that she will be abstaining from any vote dealing with Urban Hope related projects.

New board members Felicia Reyes-Morton and Brian Turner said they are excited to be a part of the various changes that could come to the district in the next year.

The board will discuss how to start the search for a superintendent at next week's board work session, Blackshear said.

The 2012 Camden City School Board:

Kathryn Blackshear, president

Martha Wilson, vice president

Sara Davis

Barbara Coscarello

Ray Lamboy

Kathryn Ribay

Sean Brown

Brian E. Turner

Felicia Reyes- morton