Manasquan School Board Confirms Acting Superintendent Mahon

The Manasquan School Board on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Robert J. Mahon as acting superintendent of schools, hours after district staff were notified that former schools chief Geraldine Margin was going on administrative leave effective immediately. 

Mahon, the current mayor of Avon-By-The-Sea who also served as interm superintendent of the Spring Lake Heights school district through June, will earn a state-mandated fee of $605.77 per day as acting schools chief, officials said. 

The board called an emergency Tuesday meeting to push through the appointment in time for the new school year. Teachers began work earlier that day before students returned to classes today. 

Mahon is a former superintendent of Ocean Township schools and has served as interm superintendent in several other districts, including Belmar and Brielle. 

Mahon said on Tuesday that he was looking forward to hitting the ground running this school year. 

"Being here at the beginning of the school year, I had an opportunity to talk ot the staff. I certainly have to familiarize myself very quickly with some of the issues, but I'm going to depend on the staff to bring me up to speed as quickly as possible, and then we'll move ahead," Mahon said after the meeting. 

And due to his previous experience in other districts, Mahon said that filling in last-minute like this was nothing unusual for him. 

"I said to the staff today, we're not in a holding pattern until the school board does something, this is a regular school year. I've started a lot of school years in a similar position, so what I intend to do, as I said, is address the issues that the district needs to address and to move forward with the district, and hopefully gain the support of the staff in making some of these things happen." 

Board Attorney R. Armen McComber on Tuesday said he did not yet know the timetable for finding Margin's permanent replacement.

McComber and other board members declined to comment on any matters involving the former superintendent. 

Margin was the district's superintendent since 2007, and has three years remaining on her second contract, signed in 2011.

Her base salary is $157,500 with annual merit increases of up to 14.99 percent. Upon her retirement, Margin is eligible for up to $15,000 in compensation for unused sick days.