Steve Forte is closing the books on a long run in Denville. After 14 years with the Denville Township School District, the superintendent will retire on June 30, 2026, ending a tenure that reshaped the K-8 district’s culture and facilities.
Assistant Superintendent Sandra Cullis takes over the top job on July 1. Cullis, currently the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, has worked alongside Forte for more than a decade and was appointed by the district’s Board of Education.
Forte, 58, has been in education since 1990, working as a special education teacher and a school principal before arriving in Denville. He spent 12 of his 14 years here as superintendent, leading a K-8 district of roughly 2,500 students from his office at 1 St. Mary’s Place.
He points to a long list of changes. The district put about $20 million into facility upgrades over the past 12 years, replacing aging heating and cooling systems, installing new roofs, and adding sports fields. Middle school students can now take high school level courses like biology and French. Riverview School earned a national Blue Ribbon designation, and the district holds a Character Schools designation. Forte also led a townwide study built around Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation,” drawing more than 100 residents to each meeting.
When the pandemic hit, he reopened classrooms as soon as the district could. “We knew that that was what the kids needed, to be in school,” he said.
Forte announced his plans more than a year ago, so the handoff is no surprise. “It’s time to go and change is good,” he said. Cullis says she is ready: “I’ll miss him. We had a lot of great conversations where we came up with good solutions.”
