Schools

Fourth Westfield Guidance Director in Four Years Quits

Charwin leaves Westfield to accept position in Hunterdon County.

A year after school district officials said he’d be with the district for “,” Richard Charwin has become Westfield’s fourth guidance director to quit in four years.

Charwin has notified Westfield officials of his decision to accept the position of pupil personnel services director at Hunterdon Central Regional High School starting on Sept. 1. Charwin was appointed to the position on July 18, 11 days shy of a year following his appointment by the BOE to the Westfield post.

Reasons for Charwin’s decision to accept the Hunterdon post have not been disclosed. Charwin could not be reached for comment on Monday evening, after the news broke.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A process for hiring Charwin’s successor has not been disclosed and if an interim director will be hired.

While the BOE met on July 26, eight days after his appointment by the Hunterdon Central BOE, no mention was made of his resignation and no resolution was offered to accept his resignation, a formality used in departures. Charwin's appointment has been disclosed in two documents from the Hunterdon Central BOE, which were both posted on the Hunterdon Central BOE's website. The BOE is next scheduled to meet on Aug 30, two days before Charwin's announced start date at Hunterdon Central.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Charwin’s departure continues the revolving door nature of the guidance director post, which oversees guidance services for all of the 10 schools in Westfield, including the guidance department at . When Charwin was appointed last year, the Board of Education charged him with focusing specifically on the high school and the two intermediate schools, which had seen cuts from three to two counselors each following the 2010 round of budget cuts.

Charwin came into the position just five months after following on the job. White’s departure was announced to parents in an email from WHS Principal Peter Renwick several hours before White was scheduled to give a highly anticipated speech to the high school’s PTSO on guidance issues. The reasons for White’s abrupt departure have never been disclosed and at the PTSO forum, Renwick said questions about her departure could not be answered due to it being a personnel issue.

White’s two predecessors each served one year in the post before leaving Westfield.

During the PTSO forum the evening of White’s resignation, parents expressed concern over the high turnover in the guidance director post and questioned guidance counselors over college advisement. The parents also called for increased communication from the guidance department on course selection and college advisement.

When Charwin was recruited to the district, BOE officials touted him as a “rock star” in New Jersey guidance circles and stressed he would be staying longer than his three immediate predecessors.

"Dr. Charwin will be with us for the long haul," then BOE member Alice Hunnicutt said.

Charwin himself addressed the high turnover in his post at the July 30, 2010 BOE meeting where he was appointed to the post.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to work in the Westfield School District," he said. "I look forward to building great relationships with students, teachers, administration, and the community for many years to come."

Charwin came to Westfield following eight years as guidance director at Bernards High School in Somerset County, a position he left after it was eliminated during budget cuts. Prior to Bernards, Charwin has been guidance director and a guidance counselor at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School.

In his new position, Charwin will be heading to a larger high school, Hunterdon Central has roughly 3,000 students, compared to Westfield’s 1,600. He will also be moving into a post that oversees only high school guidance in one school, rather than K-12 guidance spread across 10 schools.

Hunterdon Central is located in Flemington and services the Hunterdon County communities of Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington, Raritan Township and Readington Township.

The BOE has discussed in the past changing the guidance director job to focus solely on high school and intermediate school guidance, but has decided to keep the K-12 model that has been used for the last four guidance directors.

The BOE briefly considered eliminating the guidance director’s post in the wake of White’s resignation and then the news that Gov. Chris Christie had slashed the district’s state aid by in March 2010. Following the April 2010 BOE election, BOE member Mitch Slater, who on restoring the guidance director, helped led a fight to restore the post.

Slater teamed with BOE member Ann Cary to , noting that the high school needed a fulltime guidance director. Both Cary and Slater said the high school needed someone who could focus on the college selection process and guide the guidance staff on the issue.

Slater and Cary both served on a BOE guidance committee with BOE President Julia Walker and BOE member Jane Clancy. Walker opposed the restoration of the post, noting that the district’s budget crisis at the time. Clancy at the time expressed concern over the loss of counselors at both intermediate schools and a need to focus on the high school and intermediate schools for guidance issues.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan in June 2010 that she was able to find the funds to fill the post.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here