Abbott Looks Back on 43 Years in Education

It isn't easy to leave 43 years of your life behind for a new chapter, but Superintendent administrative Dr. David Abbott is ready.

Abbott , a move the regretfully accepted. Abbott's last day as superintendent will be in June of 2013.

"This is my 43rd year in education, you know when it is time," Abbott said. "I am also 72-years old, I know for the school district, it is time for them to get a younger leader. Possibly a person that is ready to take the technology initiative to another whole level, and invest themselves, hopefully for at least ten years."

The veteran superintendent has seen the world of education change drastically, and has been at the helm in Marlboro for 15 years.

Abbott began in Michigan, where he was involved as a Journeyman Carpenter and in the local ministry. In the 1970's, he moved to Ohio, where he got his doctorate from Ohio State University.

Abbott began his career in education as a head teacher, then principal, eventually moving up to administrative positions and superintendent in Ohio.

After Abbott was chosen in 1997 by a search firm and approved by the Marlboro Board of Education more than a decade ago, he came into a growing district with not only experience in education, but experience as a Journeyman Carpenter. Abbott began searching for land to accomodate the booming Marlboro population.

"The board knew coming in that that they were jammed, they had no place to put children," Abbott said. "There were 14 trailers in the school district, six were on the side of Asher Holmes. So, I had to find land."

During Abbott's leadership, Marlboro welcomed two new schools to its community, The and .

"I walked every piece of available land in this township," Abbott said. "I began to know what color the ferns were, which would tell me if the property had wetlands on it or not.

Once land was found, Abbott had to research flight patterns, traffic patterns, research what it took to move gas lines and add water and sewerage. It took Abbott almost three years to find the two plots of land, but it didn't take him long to be off and running as, what he calls, the conductor of the orchestra.

"I'm an orchestra director. I have 900 employees, and I direct them," Abbott said. "We are all on the same beat."

Early in his career in Marlboro, Abbott saw students were hitting the ceiling on standardized tests. Scores were topping out and the tests were no longer serving as an assessment tool, which Abbott said is the key to driving instruction.

"Our kids were topping out," he said. So Abbott looking into different standardized testing, and looked to tests assessing private and parochial schools. Abbott saw new, more challenging tests as a chance to let Marlboro students exceed above expectations.

"We are now surpassing some of the private and parochial schools," Abbott said. 

For years, Abbott implemented new initiatives, including beginning the three-year stretch to a what will become a one to one student to device ratio. 

And the seasoned superintendent prides himself in keeping administrative numbers low.

"The state has loaded us up with more and more and more," Abbott said, speaking of laws such as the  which he said take hours of administrative evaluation, research and paperwork. "I am functioning with just as many administrators as I need, no more."

But Abbott said one of the largest crises he and the Board of Education ever faced together was the state budget cuts of 2010, when Gov. Chris Christie cut $6 million from the Marlboro school budget. Abbott and the Board of Education then found themselves in 22 months of contract negotiations.

"We went through a tremendously hard time when Christie cut our budget," he said.

Despite the budget hardships the district faced, Abbott said he and the Board of Education have maintained a steady budget for the last three years, and .

Abbott said although he came into the district in a time of rapid population growth, the district is now experiencing rapid decline, which he believes will change when the housing market and Main Street economy take a turn for the better.

Until an upturn, the district has initiatives such as the Marlboro Educational Foundation, which was created by Abbott to fundraise for innovative classroom tools, aiding instruction and learning. Abbott also oversaw the creation of the , which is quickly becoming a steady means of revenue for the district.

But now, Abbott feels it is time for the Marlboro School District to strike up another great relationship with a new superintendent. He plans to possibly become an interim superintendent in another district, and slowly ween himself off being a full-time working man.

"Men and women define themselves by their work, you have to be careful with just all of the sudden taking that definition away," Abbott said.

Abbott said he has thought seriously about going back to service and the ministry, and in his spare time has been helping his wife, who is a marriage counselor, with some of her clients.

"I've got a lot of fire in my belly," Abbott said, adding he would miss conducting his orchestra. "This district now produces sweet music. People hear the music, and they move here."