BORDENTOWN, NJ – Dr. James Altobello, the Bordentown Regional School District’s new superintendent, said he knows exactly what led him to pursue a career in education.
“My father was a house painter, and my father was illiterate. My father could not read, and he could not write,” Altobello told TAPinto Bordentown. “I vividly remember going to the bank with my father when he used to have to go to the bank, and the only thing my dad was able to do was sign a check.”
Altobello continued, “He was always embarrassed by that, and he always encouraged me to get my own education, because he felt as though education was the way out.”
He said his path to pursue what his father strongly recommended has always been taken in New Jersey. After high school graduation, the Brick resident said he received his undergraduate degree from The College of New Jersey, then earned two master’s degrees – one in the art of teaching, the other in administration and supervision – at Georgian Court University and earned his doctorate in educational leadership at Rowan University.
Along the way, he said he has either worked as a teacher or, more frequently, served as an administrator in school districts that serve Brick, Keansburg, Middletown, and, finally, Hamilton, which is where he was working when he heard that the Bordentown superintendent position was available.
“Working in Mercer County, which is on the border of Burlington (County), obviously, I was aware of Bordentown,” Altobello said in the interview. “The opportunity to go to a place that had such a strong foundation and a community that certainly cared about its schools (and) an opportunity to build on that and to expand my leadership… is something that I certainly wanted the opportunity to do.”
He said that time and again, Bordentown residents will see that his professional traits are clarity, consistency and transparency and that he seeks input from others before making any type of job-related decision.
During the October 29 school board meeting, when , several board members noted how well prepared he had been for the interviews, which Altobello said is another one of his professional traits.
“At an early point in my career, I had a mentor who basically said, ‘You always want to be the most over-prepared person in the room.’ In everything that I do, I attempt to be overly prepared,” Altobello explained of that last characteristic. “The other thing that somebody wise once said to me is that you have to plan your work, and you have to work your plan. I bring that approach to everything that I do. I am a detail-oriented individual. I am a researcher and a learner.”
While he said it is too early to know what kind of program he may add, change or replace, he said he is aware of for the current school year.
“Every dollar that we get and every dollar that we spend is essentially a representation of public trust (since) it's the taxpayers' dollars that we are spending,” Altobello said of how he approaches the school budget-making process. “My belief is that our decisions have to be data-driven. (Our decisions) have to be fiscally responsible and they have to be focused on students. I want to be able to tie every dollar that we're spending back to the student.”
He was a presence on the school district’s campus before January 1, his official start date. For instance, he attended school board meetings in October and December and told TAPinto Bordentown in late December that he was already making arrangements to meet with the staff and administrators of each of the district’s schools during his first few official days on the job. In the near future, he said, he will be scheduling meetings with various parent-teacher organizations in the district to hear from them.
Altobello’s immediate predecessor in Bordentown, Interim Superintendent Edward J. Forsthoffer, told TAPinto Bordentown before Altobello’s appointment that 23 applications were received for the superintendent position. Most of the applicants, such as Altobello, were from New Jersey, but a few were from Pennsylvania, according to Forsthoffer.
During Forsthoffer’s last school board meeting on December 10, he rattled off several of what he considered Altobello’s positive characteristics and stated that Altobello will bring great things to the district.
“Moving forward is going to require innovation, creativity, courage, those kinds of things,” Forsthoffer continued. “I've never felt more confident in my 17-year career handing over the baton… There are going to be bumps, it is not going to be all whatever it is, but certainly with (Altobello) here… you’ve got a highly effective leader at the top.”
School district records indicate that the base salary for the new superintendent position was $207,000 for the 2025-26 school year, but since Altobello was chosen during the school year, his salary will be prorated for the current school year. He will make $212,796 in the 2026-27 school year, $218,754 in the 2027-28 school year, $224,223 in the 2028-29 school year and $229,828 in the last year of his contract, the 2029-30 school year.
609-455-2886
Service Areas
