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Dr. Abbe Boring, Georgetown ISD Superintendent of Schools

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Friday, 11 July 2008

Hired: November 2007

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Background: Teacher, assistant principal, executive director and district superintendent at Houston Independent School District; deputy superintendent for Birmingham city schools; chief academic officer for Dekalb County, Ga.; superintendent in Bartow County, Ga.

Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Michigan; master’s degree and doctorate in educational administration, University of Houston

Contact: 943-5015, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Q. What are your goals for the upcoming school year?: A. We have as our overall vision that we want to be a school district of excellence. We identified seven goals that would serve as our plan of action that we will be working on as a school district for at least this next year. A few of these will take a number of years to achieve. The first one is exemplary performance for our students. That is more of a long-term [goal], but if we don’t start that today, we won’t get there tomorrow or in the future. (Find these seven goals online at www.georgetownisd.org.)
Q. What is the biggest challenge for the school district right now?: A. I think our biggest challenge is making sure we are strategically planning for the growth and the changing dynamics of our community. We are also looking at changing dynamics as our city is looking at growth. As those things have changed, we have had approximately 25 percent of students on the free and reduced lunch program as measured by the federal standards. [Now it is] upwards of 40 percent. Again those are different dynamics not necessarily affecting a student’s ability to learn, but it may impact the background that they have and the level of preparation that they come to us with. It may be slightly different for students who are in one area versus another area.
Q. If you had an unlimited budget, what are the first things you would do?: A. I think we would continue to look at making sure we are competitive in how we compensate our employees. One of the goals that we have for quality staff is to make sure we reward excellence and that we reward employees who are successful with what they do. I also think that we would be able to look at facility needs with an unlimited budget. I would also look at professional development to make sure that we are investing in our staff — that we are continuing to build capacity and help them to have the tools and the information that they need to do their jobs well.
Q. What excites you about your job?: A. I started my career in Texas, and I am very excited to be back. I am very excited about being in Georgetown because we have enjoyed a reputation as an outstanding school system. We are also a growing community, and I am very excited to be part of one that is growing, evolving and changing. I am also very excited about the quality of our teaching staff and other professionals.
Q. What is the most important lesson you learned in school?: A. I think the most important lesson I learned in school was getting along with people. We can learn all kinds of facts and information, but being able to get along with others, to work as part of a team and to lead others in a direction is one of the most important things.
Q. What makes you want to come to work in the morning?: A. The 10,000 children who are counting on us, as adults, to make sure that they are prepared just like others took care of us. I believe that we, as a community, have a responsibility to our children. It is something that we have to work at every day, and the children are counting on us to do that. They are counting on me specifically.
Q. Did you always know you wanted to be in education?: A. No. In fact, I started college as a music major. As part of my early college experience, I worked in an early childhood center and fell in love. Over time that love and desire to [help] children has grown and evolved from doing it in a classroom level to principal and some of the other administrative positions where I can influence more teachers and ultimately more children with the things that we are able to do.
Q. Who inspires you?: A. My mom has a pretty significant part in that. She was a teacher. Other models are not necessarily any one person, but the teachers throughout our system that I see and dedicated principals that bring out the best in our teachers and staff.