The Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education bids farewell to longtime school business administrator Robert Colavita who retires after 24 years of service to the school district.
Board members and the school district administration honored Colavita in June with a proclamation and with praise for his many years of service and guidance in his role as school district business administrator and assistant superintendent of business.
“The board is really just humbled by our opportunity to work with such an amazing business administrator. Most school districts would die to have this level of competency in running the office,” said Board President Anita Williams Galiano.
Thaddeus Thompson will serve as acting business administrator and board secretary following Colavita’s retirement. Thompson began his agreement with the district on July 1.
His acting business administrator contract is slated to end on Sept. 21 but can be terminated earlier by the school district.
“You are going to be sorely missed. You always had our children at heart. If it was about the kids, he would ask do the kids really need it and he would make sure that happened,” Superintendent Rosetta Treece said.
“We thank you for that. You always kept what was most important because he was an educator first. You will be deeply missed.”
Colavita, who spent 31 years in public education, said you learn very quickly that you do not succeed alone.
“Any success I achieved was the result of all of the people in this room and past administrations working together to accomplish something,” he shared.
Over the course of his 31 years in public education, he highlighted that he has served under six superintendents, nine board presidents, and 53 board members.
“One of the parts that enjoyed the most, I enjoyed meeting each of our board members over the time. I tried to spend as much time as I could with you,” Colavita added.
“I will remember working with all of you, especially the administrators in our buildings and our key staff, cabinets, the teachers and staff who showed up every day even when the job was exhausting and often not recognized, the board members who gave their time because they believed in the school district, and I will always remember the students because every decision we made was ultimately about creating something better for them.”
He also thanked his great staffs he has had over the course of his 24 years in the school district.
Colavita served as assistant business administrator before becoming the school district’s next school business administrator.
“Retirement is strange for me. I’m 58 years old. I’m not really completely retiring. I’m going to be taking on a different task educating young business administrators to learn how to do this job and learn how to do this well.
“I leave you all in this community with gratitude…It was just an honor to do the work and to serve the community. Thank you, the community, for giving me a chance.”
