New Toms River school superintendent: 'Faith and trust' eroded, and he'll get it back

TOMS RIVER - To township native Mike Citta, the Toms River Regional school district has always been "an extension of the home," a place where parents trusted that their children would be loved and respected, in addition to receiving a good education.

But Citta, 47, who last week was appointed superintendent, said a series of controversies, spending cuts and persistent pandemic-related restrictions have eroded the "faith and trust" that parents — and some staff — had in the Toms River schools and its leaders.

"We have always been that extension of the home," Citta said. "Where in the past ... you truly felt that 'I am sending my kid off to my Uncle Louie's house and they're going to take care of him. I know they are going to be loved and I know that their best interests are going to be looked after.'"

Citta said he believes that kind of caring instruction goes on at Toms River High School South — where he has been principal for four years — and in every one of the district's schools, but, "the faith and trust in that has stopped in the community, and with some of the staff, and a major focus of mine is re-establishing that."

Toms River High School South Principal Mike Citta was just appointed superintendent of schools by the board of education, ending an acrimonious 15-month search for a new school leader
Toms River High School South Principal Mike Citta was just appointed superintendent of schools by the board of education, ending an acrimonious 15-month search for a new school leader

How does he plan to get it back?

"We're going to do that through honest communication," he said. "We're going to do that by focusing our efforts on students and what's best for them, by being visible and accountable, and just being the positive role models that we need to be. We need to display as a community the behaviors that our students are going to reflect."

Watch the video above to see Citta talk about his plans for the district.

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Citta is expected to take the helm of the district on May 1 from Interim Superintendent Stephen Genco, the former Jackson schools leader who has been at the helm of Toms River Regional since August. Genco followed Interim Superintendent Thomas Gialenella, who took over after former Superintendent David M. Healy retired on Dec. 31, 2020.

Toms River High School South Principal Mike Citta was just appointed superintendent of schools by the board of education, ending an acrimonious 15-month search for a new school leader
Toms River High School South Principal Mike Citta was just appointed superintendent of schools by the board of education, ending an acrimonious 15-month search for a new school leader

The search for a new school leader took 15 months, divided the school board, and led to charges of political interference by Township Councilman Dan Rodrick in the selection process (a charge Rodrick has denied).

The lengthy delay led to criticism of the board from parents and community members, and early in 2021, Citta's name was one of three that became public as potential superintendent hires; he was not initially selected as a finalist by the board's search committee.

In June, the board was unable to muster the necessary five votes to hire one of two finalists for the superintendent's job chosen by the school board's search committee: neither Assistant Superintendent James Ricotta and James Altobello, director of secondary education in Hamilton Township schools, received majority board support.

Citta was subject to criticism on social media -- and at a public meeting -- because he worked in the administration of Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco, who served more than seven years in federal prison for accepting between $1 and $2 million in bribes.

Board members and residents quickly rallied to Citta's defense, but he said what he described as the "unique" circumstances of the initial superintendent search made him wonder if he should apply for the job again when the board again began accepting resumes in late summer.

"Quite honestly it is the community that encouraged me to get back into the process," he said. "It wasn't a bucket list thing for me."

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Many residents indicated their hope that the board would select a superintendent from within the district when the search began again.

He said he thought his 24 years of experience in the district, as well as his community ties, could benefit Toms River schools. Citta applied again for the job, and last week, he was selected as superintendent by a 5-to-2 vote.

His selection was greeted with a standing ovation by the crowd at Toms River High School North's auditorium, which included many family members, friends and colleagues.

Toms River High School South principal Michael Citta concludes his presentation of the Class of 2020 at Detwiler Stadium Monday, July 6, 2020.
Toms River High School South principal Michael Citta concludes his presentation of the Class of 2020 at Detwiler Stadium Monday, July 6, 2020.

A contract for Citta is expected to be on the agenda for approval at the board's Feb. 16 meeting; his salary as principal at High School South is $170,213, according to state pension records.

"I'm very humbled and feel extremely supported by this community," Citta said.

To say Citta has deep ties to Toms River may actually be understating the case. He met his wife, Jacqueline, while working in the district. She's now supervisor of instruction at Walnut Street School.

The couple's son, Michael, graduated from South last year and is studying at Ocean County College; their daughter, Sophia, is a freshman at South. The family lives only a few blocks from High School South.

Citta's father, James, is a retired Ocean County Superior Court judge; his great-uncle, Joseph, was the county's first public defender, served as school board president, and was a noted philanthropist who was elected to the inaugural Toms River schools Hall of Fame, and had a school -- Joseph A. Citta Elementary — named after him.

Joseph Citta also scored the only touchdown in the 1924 football game between the then Toms River High School (now High School South) and archrivals Lakewood; Toms River won the game, 6 to 0, and on a recent day, Mike Citta pointed out the weathered cleats Citta wore in that game, displayed on a shelf in the South principal's office.

The Cittas arrived in Toms River sometime in the 1890s, Mike Citta said, but his mother, Bonnie, is a member of the Clayton family, one of the Ocean County families who have been in the area since before the American Revolution.

Citta said his grandfather, Frank, was a chicken farmer, one of the many families who raised chickens for their eggs when the formerly rural Pleasant Plains section of Toms River was filled with egg farms.

A 1993 graduate of Toms River High School North, where he played football and was a member of the track team, Citta received his bachelor's degree from Georgian Court University and a master's at Kean University.

He has spent his entire educational career in Toms River schools, student-teaching and then substitute teaching and coaching at High School North before working as an assistant principal at the school.

Promoted to an assistant superintendent's position, he held that job for more than five years, before volunteering to leave the position in 2010, when the district's state aid was cut by $14 million by the administration of Gov. Chris Christie. An assistant superintendent's job was among the positions cut that year.

Citta became principal of Hooper Avenue Elementary School, a job he held for nearly eight years before becoming principal of High School South four years ago.

He said the experience at the elementary level gave him added perspective on the educational process which he believes will help him in the superintendent's position.

"I really saw instruction, from the foundation level, and I could piece it with the secondary level," he said, noting he spent a lot of time "in the classrooms with the kids."

Citta said he has already been meeting with Genco and other administrators to begin the transition. Among the other challenges he will face is the steady loss of state education aid.

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Toms River Regional has been forced to cut dozens of teaching positions in the last several years, as the new education aid formula, S2, funnels state aid from districts with declining enrollment to schools where enrollment has soared. The district received $7.6 million in emergency funding late last year, which staved off further staff cuts, as did an influx of pandemic money.

Citta said while the district will continue to fight what Toms River officials have said is an unfair funding formula, the schools must also "change some of the ways we think and reprioritize," and also reach out to the community for assistance.

"The extreme cuts we've taken over the years ... those cuts have finally started translating into program loss," Citta said. "We need to re-establish programs. That would be a primary focus of mine, to make that we are creating the opportunities for kids in student programs. Every decision that we are going to make is going to be with that in mind."

That will include outreach to the community, he said.

"To sit there and hope for a rainy day, that someone is going to make us whole for the cuts that have already happened, I don't think that's reality," he said. "... But we also have a great community and a lot of resources. ... We can be doing more with our resources around us, whether it be county-based, township-based, shared services, other revenue sources."

He said he understands the anger some parents have expressed about pandemic-related learning loss and Gov. Phil Murphy's school mask mandate, which some have labeled "child abuse." The mask mandate is scheduled to be lifted March 7; Citta said he did not want to comment on any potential changes to the district's masking policy, since Genco is still the school district's leader.

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Citta said pandemic weariness and the related frustration are evident in all facets of society.

"It has been awkward," Citta said. "There have been a lot of angry people for a lot of good reasons and that spills over to the kids' behavior. That spills over to how we deal with issues with students, with parents. We need to recognize that it's coming from that place and it's not coming from a place of hate ... and re-establish those relationships so we can create that safe environment for our kids to flourish in."

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 38 years. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River NJ Regional Schools superintendent focusing on faith, trust