HAMILTON -- Hamilton has named a township resident as its new schools superintendent after two years with an interim at the district's helm.

Scott Rocco, who has served as superintendent of Spotswood Public Schools for the past four years, will start May 8, officials announced Friday.

The school board is having a special meeting Monday night to appoint him.

During his 23 years as an educator, Rocco has held positions as superintendent, interim superintendent, assistant superintendent, assistant superintendent for personnel, principal, vice principal and social studies and basic skills teacher.

He worked in Hillsborough Township schools for 13 years before taking the job in Spotswood.

Rocco has also taught as an adjunct professor at the College of New Jersey and an instructor in the NJ EXCEL program, which provides training and certificates to school administrators.

He has a master's in education administration from TCNJ and a doctorate in leadership, management and policy from Seton Hall University.

The district said in a news release that Rocco has been on the forefront of educating teachers on how to effectively use technology in the classroom.

William Librera, the consultant hired in August to help the board with its search, says 37 people applied for the job, of which he interviewed 21. He then presented the board with a skeletal outline of all the candidates as well as a slate of his recommendations.

After interviewing seven candidates in early November, the board narrowed its list to three finalists. A second round of interviews followed before board members made an unanimous choice, Librera said.

"The candidates we had were very strong because people are impressed with the possibilities and the present status of the Hamilton school district," he said. "This (search) was as successful as one can get in finding a candidate, particularly if you're doing it when school starts. The board deserves tremendous praise for the hard work they did."

Though a decision was made late last year, the board had to wait for approvals from the county and state and a waiver for the salary cap. It was not immediately known what Rocco's salary would be.

The 11,000-plus-student district has seen turnover in its top position since longtime superintendent Neil Bencivengo retired in June 2011.

After a failed initial search, James Sheerin was hired in June 2011 as interim superintendent, but was fired in February 2012 after sparring with board members over vacant principal positions. Though James Parla had been named permanent superintendent the month before, he didn't begin work until that April.

Parla submitted his resignation in October 2014, effective Jan. 31, 2015. He intended to continue working on a per diem basis until an interim was found, but the board terminated his contract that February.

Assistant Superintendent Steve Bollar was then promoted to acting head until current Interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra was brought to the district in May 2015.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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