Carole Larsen, a veteran NJSBA field service representative, will retire Feb. 1.

Larsen has been with NJSBA for 18-1/2 years, having worked in its northern field office in West Caldwell before transferring to the central office in Manalapan.

“She’s been absolutely dedicated to the Association,” said Marie Bilik, director of field services. “Carole has been innovative in creating materials to facilitate board effectiveness. She has a great sense of humor and a direct style that local school board members treasure.”

Assessment Larsen served as staff to the Association’s ad hoc committee on student assessment which, in 2000, made significant recommendations for changes in the state’s standardized testing program. She also staffed NJSBA’s Standards and Assessment Committee, a standing committee established in 2003, which grew out of the earlier efforts to improve student testing.

Larsen also developed a database on superintendent turnover, which is used as reference in designing services and advocating school governance issues.

“It really went by in a flash,” Larsen said. “It doesn’t seem like two decades of work. It really doesn’t.”

Prior to joining the NJSBA staff, Larsen served as the president of the Morris School District Board of Education. She also was a volunteer group leader for the Association’s new board member orientation program and other inservice training programs.