Dr. Kathie Foster has been named to serve as acting superintendent of schools by the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education.
The school board appointed Foster to the post at a special meeting Nov. 13. She will fill in for Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley, who is taking a paid leave of absence ahead of her resignation that takes effect Aug. 31, 2024.
Foster’s contract started Nov. 14 and ends June 30, 2024. It may be extended through Aug. 31, 2024, which is Kelley’s last day in the school district. Kelley was in her third year of a four-year contract when she took a paid leave of absence Oct. 27.
Foster will be paid $1,100 per day, up to five days per week. Her prorated salary is $169,400. Including travel and expense reimbursement and professional development, she will be paid $171,400.
Kelley will be paid $249,696 during her paid leave of absence.
School board president Dafna Kendal said the school board will take up the search for a permanent superintendent of schools after it reorganizes in January 2024 with two new members.
Foster is not new to the Princeton Public Schools. She served as interim principal at Princeton High School, between former Principal Frank Chmiel’s dismissal in March and the appointment of Cecilia Birge as the principal in September.
Foster also served as the interim assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in December 2021 until Kimberly Tew was appointed to fill it on a permanent basis in June 2022.
“We are very pleased that Kathie will be coming back to the district in this role,” Kendal said.
School board member Michele Tuck-Ponder thanked Rebecca Gold, the interim assistant superintendent for human resources, for filling in immediately after Kelley announced her resignation.
Foster retired as the superintendent of schools in the Robbinsville Public School district in 2020. She also served as the principal of its Pond Road Middle School.
