by Maria Prato-Gaines, The Packet Group
ROBBINSVILLE — Schools superintendent finalist Steven Mayer stepped out in front of the podium at Robbinsville High School, talking with residents much like a coach would to his players — with emphatic hand gestures and driving enthusiasm, all in an apparent effort to rally the public.
”It’s important for me to have two driving characteristics: meaningful and challenging work,” he said. “I really think we’re sitting on the precipice of the point when our school and community can be the best out there.”
In his opening speech at the meet-and-greet session April 1, Mr. Mayer also touched upon the recent pattern of failed school budgets and how the district must confront those challenges head-on.
”You all know resources are scarce,” he said. “Spending does not come easily.”
One of the district’s main goals should be to present “sound and financially stable” budgets, thereby building a higher level of trust with the community, he said.
The Robbinsville Board of Education started its search for a new superintendent last fall after Superintendent John Szabo announced he would be retiring. From a pool of 27 candidates, the board eventually narrowed the position down to Mr. Mayer, who is employed as the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The school board plans to officially hire him April 28.
Mr. Mayer, 45, has lived in Robbinsville since 1993, has worked in education for 22 years and is in the process of finishing a doctoral program at Rutgers University from where he earned his master’s degree.
The 30-or-so residents who attended the April 1 event had an opportunity to ask tough questions as the district allowed them to anonymously write their queries on note cards, which school board Presi- dent Michael Reca then relayed to Mr. Mayer.
Some residents wondered how Mr. Mayer’s unique position as both a township resident and a superintendent might factor into his future role.
Mr. Mayor — who has three sons in the school system and a wife who teaches in the district — said not only does he not expect his family to receive any preferential treatment, but he would be highly offended if they did.
”We’ve had significant and several discussions as a family on what it’s going to be like living in a fishbowl,” he said. “But we did make this commitment as a family.”
Responding to a question regarding the district’s limited resources and increasing enrollment, Mr. Mayer had nothing but praise for the administration and staff who he said have seemed to make a difficult situation work seamlessly.
”Obviously, the facilities are stretched thin, and we’re getting more kids,” he said. “We don’t know what five years from now looks like. We need to work with the town’s planner and demographers for a general forecast.”
Because of soaring enrollment at the Sharon Road Elementary School and Pond Road Middle School, the district has been using modular classrooms and teaching some subjects from a cart and is eyeing the prospects of a new intermediate school.
Some parents were curious how Mr. Mayer would describe his own leadership style.
”My leadership style demands that we have all the voices in the room,” he said. “Dissenting voices are just as important as agreeing ones, sometimes more important. Once I feel like we’ve got the information we need, then we make a decision and stick with it.”
One attendee asked Mr. Mayer of his plans for fostering better communication between the district and its students and parents.
When he does take the reins, Mr. Mayer said he hoped to encourage more community involvement and interest in the district and to keep a level of interactive communication open with the public.
Another audience member was interested to know how Mr. Mayer intended to mold the district’s identity.
The district should look to emulate tier-one schools, he said, so students who graduate from Robbinsville High School are labeled by the outside world as hard workers, destined for success.
”It would be really nice if Robbinsville was on the map in the educational landscape with the Princetons,” he said. “We’ve got the resources in the community; they are living and breathing and come into our doors every day.”

