NORTH WILDWOOD – North Wildwood Board of Education, at its April 24 meeting, accepted the resignation of Superintendent Christopher Armstrong, effective June 30.
Armstrong, who spoke to the Herald June 9, said, “I’ve been the superintendent for eight years, which is about the right time (to make a change).”
Armstrong, 55, said his contract was renewed earlier in the year, but he made the decision to look at other opportunities. He said Wildwood High School (WHS) Principal Phil Schaffer would be replacing him.
Looking back on his eight years, Armstrong said he was satisfied that he was able to accomplish much with the help of the community.
Armstrong said the voters passed a referendum that allowed the district to make necessary repairs to the school building. He said they were able to repair the heating system, including replacing boiler motors that were 100 years old.
“We were also able to expand programs, including a pre-K program for 3-year-olds through the New Jersey Pre-K Expansion Grant,” Armstrong said. “I think we have improved instruction over the years.”
Armstrong said he and the Board of Education have managed the school budget in a time of declining state aid and a declining student population, while not cutting the staff.
“We have a wonderful Board of Education that is very supportive of our students,” he said.
Armstrong said he had the unenviable task of leading the students and staff through the Covid pandemic, which resulted in the school being closed temporarily before reopening under social distancing and other Covid protocols.
“We didn’t even know the term social distancing prior to that,” he said.
In September 2020, the school resumed in-person classes, along with some taking classes virtually.
“We got through it, but I can still see the impact,” he said.
Armstrong said he didn’t care to talk about regrets, wishing to leave his position on a positive note. He said he planned to remain in the area he has known since 1977.
Within this school year, Armstrong had to respond to a protest held outside the Margaret Mace School on Atlantic Avenue. More than a dozen parents and former students gathered outside the school, holding signs in order to draw attention to bullying at the school.
Armstrong responded to one student’s parents with a letter dated Dec. 22, 2022, in which he informed the parents that the district found their daughter’s claims of bullying were “unsubstantiated.”
The parents filed terroristic threat charges against a student, which were later reduced in mediation to simple assault, a disorderly persons offense.
The student’s sentence received deferred disposition of the charges, meaning if he complied with the court’s requirements for three months, the charges would be dismissed.
Phil Schaffer
WHS Principal Schaffer said he has accepted the position of superintendent in the North Wildwood School District.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Schaffer said. “I enjoy being down in the Wildwood community.”
Schaffer, a graduate of Ocean City High School, said when the superintendent position in North Wildwood became available, he thought it would be a good opportunity to stay connected to the Wildwoods.
Schaffer has been the WHS principal since 2015 and was assistant principal and athletic director the year prior.
Schaffer summed up the last nine years in Wildwood, saying, “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done at Wildwood. We have great teachers who work hard and do their best for the kids.”
Schaffer said he felt he had complete buy-in from the teachers, who he said would take any initiative and see it through, which he felt had a strong impact on students’ lives.
As the principal, he said he worked closely with Wildwood Superintendent Kenyon Kummings with regard to cuts in state aid. He said as principal, working with two assistant principals and guidance counselors, he was given the number of positions that would have to be cut and experienced what it meant to be creative with staffing and course offerings.
“We worked it out where, when state aid numbers were coming out, we were in the middle of doing course requests and students’ schedules for next year and working with the supervisor of the Child Study Team, what IEPs (individualized education program) looked like – there were a lot of people involved,” he said.
Schaffer said he felt very lucky to have a superintendent who involved him in a lot of the conversations on things that, as the building principal, impacted him and the staff on a day-to-day basis.
He said the experience has prepared him to take over as superintendent in North Wildwood and he is happy to be staying on the island.
He said as the WHS principal, he was already receiving students from Margaret Mace School and would simply get to know them at an earlier age.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
