OCEAN CITY — In a unanimous vote, the Board of Education approved a contract for Christian Angelillo to serve as the school district’s permanent superintendent. The vote came at a school board meeting Tuesday, March 14, with Board President Kevin Barnes and Angelillo signing the contract at the podium during the meeting.
Angelillo comes to Ocean City with 29 years of experience in school administration. Currently he is the superintendent in Boonton Township in Morris County, where he oversees a pre-K to 8 district. Boonton Township students attend Mountain Lakes High School, also in Morris County.
Ocean City has been without permanent leadership for its K to 12 school district since long-serving Superintendent Kathleen Taylor retired in the summer of 2021. The district has had a series of interim superintendents with the exception of the 2022-2023 school year, when the district was led by Matthew Friedman, who left to take another position after one difficult year.
Angelillo was the school board’s choice from more than 50 applicants for the position. In his opening comments to the board and audience, he noted the fast-approaching St. Patrick’s Day holiday, saying he is more of a “Columbus Day kind of guy than St. Patrick’s Day,” adding that he is anxious to begin leading “this wonderful district.”
Interim Superintendent Terrence Crowley said, “Dr. Angelillo presented himself as an experienced and qualified individual who would contribute to and lead the Ocean City School District as it provides an outstanding education for our students. He will bring to the district a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm.”
Angelillo’s most recent experience includes a struggle to repair and improve school facilities in Boonton Township, where voters recently turned down a referendum measure requesting $15 million to rehabilitate the schools.
He is also currently engaged in negotiations with Mountain Lakes High School over a new 10-year agreement for educating Boonton students in grades 9 to 12. The most recent 10-year agreement having ended, the two districts are at an impasse over the structure of tuition payments from Boonton.
In Ocean City, Angelillo will head a district with its own high school, which also serves as a receiving school for Upper Township and Sea Isle City students.
He received his Ed.D. in K-12 administration from Seton Hall University. He also holds a master of arts in educational administration and supervision from Montclair State University, along with a bachelor’s in history from Fordham University.
In his comments to the board, he said he believes it important to immerse oneself in the community as a way of better understanding what it expects from its school system. “I look forward to becoming a part of the fabric of the Ocean City community and forging lasting relationships,” he said.
Angelillo and his wife, Carol, have a son and a daughter, both of whom are in college.
He was given a five-year contract in Ocean City. He will start as superintendent in June.
