Two local school boards that serve Millstone Township, Allentown and Upper Freehold Township have reorganized for the new year.
The Millstone Township K-8 School District Board of Education held its annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 4.
During the meeting, the winning candidates from the November 2021 election – incumbents Theodore Filis and Christine Reese, and newcomers Deborah Riley, James Cignarella and Gabriela Ramalho – were sworn in to serve new terms on the board.
Filis, Reese and Riley were elected to full three-year terms that will run from January 2022 through December 2024.
Cignarella and Ramalho were elected as write-in candidates to serve one-year terms that will end on Dec. 31.
After all members were seated, the board held elections for the positions of president and vice president.
Cynthia Bailey, who served as president in 2021, was nominated and elected to serve as president for a second consecutive year. Bailey joined the board in 2014 and is the panel’s longest-serving member.
Reese, who served as vice president in 2021, was nominated and elected to serve as vice president for a second consecutive year. Reese joined the board in 2019.
Board member Amrita Singh was appointed to serve as Millstone’s representative on the Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education for the first time. The position was previously held by Billy Hanson, who left the board in 2021 after not seeking re-election.
Millstone and Upper Freehold Regional have a longstanding send-receive relationship through which high school age residents of Millstone Township attend Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold Regional School District.
A representative of Millstone sits on the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education and votes on matters pertaining to Allentown High School.
Filis, Reese, Riley, Cignarella, Ramalho, Bailey and Singh are joined on the Millstone Township school board by Mark McLafferty and William Schlupp.
At Upper Freehold Regional’s annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 5, the winning candidates from the November 2021 election – incumbents Howard Krieger and Brett Williams, and newcomer Stacey Blecher – were sworn in to serve new three-year terms on the board.
Patrick Nolan, who served as president in 2021, was nominated and elected to serve as president for a third consecutive year. Nolan joined the board in 2012.
Williams was nominated and elected to serve as vice president for the first time. He joined the board in 2019.
Michele Anthony, who was the board’s vice president from 2019-21, left the panel in 2021 after not seeking re-election.
Upper Freehold Regional serves school age children of Upper Freehold Township and Allentown. The nine-member board includes seven residents of Upper Freehold and two residents of Allentown.
The Upper Freehold representatives are Nolan, Williams, Blecher, Krieger, Christine Ciccarone, Vanessa DePompo and Michael Zuppa.
The Allentown representatives are Wil Borkowski and Kurt Wayton.
School board members in New Jersey serve without compensation.
