Camden schools get new leader

The Camden school board has named Bessie Young, a veteran educator in the Philadelphia schools, as the district's new superintendent.

Board president Sara Davis said the board made the selection, on an 8-0 vote with one member absent, at a meeting on Thursday, but the appointment was not announced until last night's regular monthly board meeting.

Young, a regional superintendent in Philadelphia, succeeds Annette D. Knox as head of South Jersey's largest public school system. She is expected to begin July 1.

Knox stepped down last June amid a state criminal investigation into the district's spending practices, including her bonuses, and a test-score rigging scandal. Interim administrators have been running the district.

Davis last night called Young "a highly qualified educator."

After a national search, the board narrowed the field to Young and Shelley Jallow, a well-regarded school administrator from Maryland. Both have extensive experience at urban schools.

The finalists were introduced at a public forum earlier this month and both expressed optimism about the future of the troubled district.

Young, 57, who lives in Williamstown, did not attend last night's board meeting. At the forum, she called on Camden parents "to galvanize together" to uplift the district of nearly 16,000 students.

"I've been an educator for [more than] 30 years . . . I have committed my entire life to that till death do us part," Young said. "This is not an opportunity to think about failure."

The board must still negotiate contract terms with Young, who began her career in 1972 as a teacher in the Philadelphia school district.

Knox earned $185,000 a year and was among the top-paid superintendents in the region.

During her 35-year career, Young has been an assistant principal and high school principal in Philadelphia schools. As a regional superintendent, she is overseeing a probe into a grade-changing scandal that erupted last month at William Penn High involving a principal who overturned the failing grades of dozens of students.

She becomes only the second woman and second outsider to head Camden schools. She will oversee a $311 million annual budget and nearly 4,000 employees.

She inherits a district that has been rocked by scandal and controversy. Plagued by low test scores and violence for years, Camden is under state oversight, a step away from a state takeover.

Board member Theo Spencer said he was relieved that the superintendent search was over and expressed confidence in Young.

"There are some challenges, but there are challenges in every school system," Spencer said.

The state Attorney General's Office launched a criminal probe last spring into Camden's spending practices and allegations of grade-fixing and test-score rigging.

The board bought out Knox's contract last June after learning that she received $17,500 in bonuses without the board's approval or knowledge.