Dr. Scott Taylor, Highland Park’s superintendent since 2015, announced Saturday morning that would leave Highland Park for the superintendent spot in Union Township.
Taylor’s hiring in the Union County district was first reported Friday by TapInto Union and comes at a time of transition for the Highland Park Public Schools, which has endured a tumultuous year amid the pandemic and calls for expanded instruction, either remote or in-person.
Recent HP board of education meetings have been rife with pushback from the board and the administration regarding the district’s policies keeping Wednesdays as “catch-up” days and keeping the school day limited to four hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Parents have recently questioned whether the district was meeting its state requirement to provide 180 days of instruction.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you I will be stepping away from my position as superintendent of our wonderful school district on June 30 this year, pending approval of my appointment by a board of education in a different school system. My leave does not come without some hesitation; Highland Park has been my home for 26 years, and my time leading the district has spanned almost six of these years. It’s not easy to step away from a place to which I’ve been so committed,” Taylor wrote Saturday morning in a district-wide communication.
“I leave our district in about a month and a half in a very stable and thriving place,” he added.
Taylor, a Highland Park resident, was previously superintendent in Kenilworth, also in Union County, and was hired as superintendent in 2015 following the forced departure of Tim Capone, the embattled superintendent who clashed with the board of education and with the community over district policies, hiring and firing practices, and testing. Capone was recently let go from his subsequent position in Montague for similar clashes with the community and the board of education there.