Vineland School District Superintendent Alfonso Llano picked as new Camden City School District leader

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The New Jersey Board of Education has named Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. as the next state superintendent of the Camden City School District.

Llano, who was appointed and sworn in during Wednesday’s board meeting, has been leading the Vineland Public School District since July 2021. He will start in Camden on March 1. He said he plans on spending his time getting to know the community.

“Going to schools, talking to parents, talking to teachers, talking to administrators, visiting as many of our partners as possible,” he said. “I have a list of 12 or so community partners that are out there already supporting the city. I’m going to meet with those folks as well.”

Llano, 51, will be overseeing a school district that is reeling from declining enrollment and cuts stemming from a $91 million budget deficit. The district is now competing with charter and renaissance schools for students and resources. Llano said he “researched heavily” before applying for the job.

“I wanted to make sure I was applying to a place that could handle what I want to achieve in my career,” he said.

Prior to his role in Vineland, Llano was with Trenton Public Schools for 10 years. According to his LinkedIn profile, he rose from elementary school principal to assistant superintendent to chief academic officer and left as interim superintendent.

He also held administrative roles with Readington Township and Howell Township school districts. Llano holds degrees from Rowan, Kean, New Jersey City universities and is working on his doctorate at Seton Hall, according to the profile.

Llano succeeds Katrina T. McCombs, who left in July to take a role with the state. Since then, Davida Coe-Brockington, longtime principal of Creative Arts High School, stepped into a temporary role.

The search for the next school superintendent has largely been quiet since June, when the search firm, HYA Associates, collected feedback from parents in the city.

Officials praise the selection of Llano, but the community has mixed reactions

Camden officials said they looked forward to working with Llano.

“Superintendent Alfonso Llano is the proven and innovative leader that Camden needs to advance the district,” said Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen in a statement. The mayor was one of several officials who called for a new superintendent more than a year ago. “Mr. Llano has a proven academic record and is known for demonstrating a deep commitment to working with parents and teachers.”

N’Namdee Nelson, president of the Camden City School District Advisory Board, said in a statement that the board “is confident in Llano’s selection and feels this will be a positive change for all students and parents.”

Alesha Figueroa-Falcon, executive director of school choice advocate group-Parents Invincible, said Llano has her full support to improve education in Camden.

“I ask that the entire community get behind our new Superintendent, Llano, as he advocates for our children to have the same opportunities as every other student throughout this state,” she said in a statement.

Camden Education Fund released the results of a survey they commissioned, which was conducted during the same time period HYA Associates was seeking community input for the state. A vast majority of parents surveyed said it is important for the new superintendent to support giving families choices between different types of schools.

Llano said he is a “strong advocate for public schools” and that he has experience working with charter schools from his time in Trenton. He said that Renaissance schools — which only exist in Camden — are “the newest wrinkle in the mix” and that he wouldn’t have taken the job if he believed Camden would become an all charter school system.

“A school’s a school, education looks like education,” he said. “I’m going to reinvigorate the public schools to be very competitive with the other options.”

But Ronsha A. Dickerson, a Camden resident and executive director of the Camden Parent and Student Union, said she is “disappointed” by the lack of community involvement in the hiring process. HYA held listening sessions, but there were no public updates until the state board made its selection.

“We understand we’re under state control, we get it, but because we’re under state control, does that mean that the community does not have a say in how our schools are governed?” she asked.

Dickerson is concerned that only select groups will have a chance to provide feedback to Llano. But she believes her group may have a chance to “have a decent conversation” with the incoming school leader.

“It doesn’t need to be that ‘I’m going to go to the established organizations’ that maybe people will suggest,” she said. “You have to really consider that the community knows what they need, and we got to take politics out of public education.”