Top educator is still learning

WW-P superintendent’s approach focuses on fine-tuning.

By: Jill Matthews
   Learning never stops in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, even if you’re the superintendent.
   About a year and a half after taking the reins in the district, Superintendent Robert Loretan has worked to fine-tune and build up the high-achieving district — all while becoming familiar with highly regulated New Jersey school district standards.
   Over the past 17 months, Dr. Loretan faced the common challenges of getting to know staff members, schools, curriculum and student performance, and at the same time, faced challenges unique to the district, from crafting a bare-bones budget to hiring new personnel to improving the already high-achieving district.
   But while bringing new leadership, Dr. Loretan has stopped short of pushing his own vision for the district.
   "As a superintendent that’s been doing it for awhile, I’ve learned that bringing a bag with me of best ideas from someplace else is not the way to do this job," Dr. Loretan said. "I come in, I try to look at where a district is. And a district doing as many things like this place is, is not one you come in and start tinkering with right away. So, it’s to take what we’ve got in place, fine-tune it, move it ahead, respond to the challenges."
   A West Windsor resident, Dr. Loretan was a longtime superintendent at various districts in New York and Massachusetts and previously worked as the executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents before coming to the district. His contract began Sept. 1, 2003 and runs through June 30, 2007.
   Having never worked in a New Jersey school district before coming to West Windsor-Plainsboro, Dr. Loretan has quickly become familiar with the challenges faced by school districts in the state, which he said are heavily regulated and, at least in West Windsor-Plainsboro, receive little state aid.
   The wheels are already grinding as the district begins to build its 2005-2006 budget, but overshadowing that process, he said, is new state legislation passed last year that lowers school budget caps to 2.5 percent and limits the amount of money schools can keep in their surplus.
   "If people in the community pass the budget, as they did last year … and say we want to support the schools in the manner that the budget has been presented, I don’t feel that other individuals should limit what this community chooses to do," Dr. Loretan said.
   When Dr. Loretan was hired in July 2003, he said one of his priorities was improving communications with the board, school community and township residents. Although Dr. Loretan said he thinks the district administration has communicated very well with the school board and pretty well with the community last year on certain issues, such as the budget, he said he does not think communications have been perfect in all areas.
   "I’m never satisfied with what I am doing there (in communications), but I think we are doing a pretty good job in meeting that (communications) challenge," Dr. Loretan said. Having a full-time public information officer, Gerri Hutner, also makes communication easier because of her deep understanding of the issues in the district, he said.
   Some of Dr. Loretan’s highlights from his first year as superintendent in the district include exceptional student accomplishments, the development of a strategic planning process, the approval last year of the budget and the recruitment of a good staff. He also said he has worked well with school board members, whom he called "strong, intelligent and perceptive."
   Dr. Loretan added, "The student accomplishments still are exceptional, and every year we try to feed that and improve that in terms of teaching and learning. That’s the most significant achievement."
   "Working with him is not a challenge, it’s a pleasure," board President Hemant Marathe said. "He came in with a lot of challenges and he has managed them well."
   "I just hope he stays here for a long time," Mr. Marathe added.