Camden’s incoming school superintendent says its too soon to know if more budget cuts will be needed
Alonso Llano is poised to become Camden's state-appointed school czar on March 1. The district cut nearly 300 jobs last year.
Incoming state-appointed Camden school superintendent Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. got a head start Wednesday on his new position running the troubled school system.
Llano met with Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen and other key stakeholders at City Hall for a congenial discussion ahead of taking over the district March 1. .
During a round-table discussion, Llano said his immediate priority will be to provide stability to the district. Camden has been without a permanent superintendent since June 30.
Llano,currently the school superintendent in the Vineland district, inherits a district of about 5,532 students plagued with declining enrollment, law test scores, chronic absenteeism and a high dropout rate.There have been modest gains since the state seized control of the district in 2013.
The incoming district leader said it was too early to comment on the district’s budget outlook for the 2026-2027 school year. Last year, the district had a $91 million budget deficit and made cuts affecting nearly 300 positions.
Llano said he was made aware of recent rumors about possible school closures. He said he had not received data about it and declined further comment.
In response to another question, he said he would support immigrant families who have grown increasingly afraid to send their children to school because they fear they may be targeted by ICE. About 56% of Camden’s traditional public school students are Hispanic.
“Schools are a safe place and we want to maintain them as a safe place,” Llano said.
He delicately side-stepped a question about the changing educational landscape in Camden. Thousands of students have left the city’s traditional public schools for Renaissance and charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run.
Enrollment in the Renaissance and charter schools exceeds the traditional public schools. The district has said payments to those schools have increased from $54.9 million in 2013 to $198 million.
“School choice is important to families. Camden is unique” Llano said. “We want to make sure the public school system is stabilized and innovative in a way that families feel comfortable keeping their children in the public school system.”
Llano said he would focus on listening and learning from educators and the community as his introduction to Camden.
“What does the reality look like? What is every day in the classroom?” he said.
Llano has been making his rounds in Camden. He was in the city Monday and joined Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service activities.
Llano said he was proud to become the first Hispanic tapped to lead the district. He is among only a handful of outsiders to become the city’s schools chief.
Llano will receive an annual salary of $260,000 under a three-year contract, making him among the highest paid superintendents in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties.
He succeeds Davida Coe-Brockington, a longtime Camden educator who has served as the interim superintendent during a national search. She was not a candidate for the job.
Coe-Brockington, who will continue as interim chief until Llano arrives, said she was “honored to hold it down” until a permanent superintendent was named. She thanked Llano “for saying yes to Camden.”
Carstarphen and a group of city leaders cleared the path for the state to appoint a new superintendent. Katrina McComb’s contract was not renewed last year after The group said Camden schools needed “a new vision for leadership.”
Llano has been superintendent of the Vineland district in Cumberland County since 2021. He previously worked in the Trenton, Readington Township and Howell Township school districts.