The New Year has not started off too well for the Cresskill School District.

Mainly because Schools Superintendent Charles V. Khoury has announced that he will leave the district at the end of the school year.

Khoury has been the superintendent for five years. In that time he has made enormous improvements to the school system, but none more important that the school construction project that voters approved Jan. 25, 2005.

It was Khoury's brilliant, and well articulated presentations that got residents to overwhelmingly support the $31M construction project that would add enough space to create a middle school, build a new gymnasium and cafeteria and update the science classrooms at the junior/senior high school site.

In addition several maintenance items such as a new roof at the junior/senior high school and an upgrade of the HVAC systems at Merritt Memorial and the junior/senior high school as well as numerous other smaller projects were part of the referendum.

The construction project is nearing completion and the middle school is expected to open in September

Cresskill will now have to begin the difficult task of finding a new leader, one that is at least equal to Khoury.

And that may prove very difficult. The position of the superintendent is extremely important. It is this person that sets the direction that the school system will head. Khoury created a clearly defined path that was improving the already excellent school district.

He will certainly be missed.