Temporary Schools Chief Hired

The Board of Education at a special meeting Friday afternoon announced it would hire an administrator from outside the district to become interim superintendent.

The board voted to appoint Stephanie Bilenker, of Manalapan, to fill in for Superintendent James Habel, who is out on for the duration of his contract, which expires in June.

The board voted to pay Bilenker $600 a day, or roughly $66,000 through June. The maximum pay allowed for an interim superintendent in a district Wall’s size is $644 a day, board President John Tavis said.

The vote was 7-0, with one abstention. Melissa Peters was absent.

Board member Laurie Cannon, who abstained from the vote, vehemently disagreed with the majority, saying prior to the vote that Bilenker’s pay was too high and in-district candidates who offered to do the job for less money should have been considered.

“I don’t think we have to pay $66,000 for a placeholder,’’ Cannon said.

Board members Deidre Kukucka and Joseph Tonzola said the pay was in-line with the position.

“I also don’t think we’re out of the ballpark,’’ Tavis said.

Bilenker’s last job was as a chief school administrator and director of special services with the Green Brook Township School District in Somerset County. Her tenure with the district ended in June, according to a resume provided by the Wall school board.

Bilenker was with the Green Brook School district since 1993, starting as an elementary school principal and director of special services. She moved to that district’s middle school before becoming the administrator in 1999, according to the resume.

Bilenker started her education career in 1972 in New York as a junior high school science teacher. She had a two-month stint with the Freehold Regional High School District teaching college prep biology in the mid-1980s and spent seven years with the Jamesburg School District, where she became an elementary school principal in 1990, according to the resume.