FREEHOLD – A staff member in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District has been recognized for her role in saving the life of a pupil.
During their March 7 meeting, the members of the Board of Education recognized Tina Williams, a staff member at the Park Avenue Elementary School who, according to district administrators, was responsible for coming to aid of a child who was choking on a piece of apple during an after-school program.
Williams administered the Heimlich maneuver on the child and the youngster recovered from the incident.
“Luckily, there was a teacher standing by who knew just what to do when the moment necessitated it,” Superintendent of Schools Joseph Howe said. “Any time I meet with a staff member after they do something like that, they say anyone would have done the same thing in that situation. But not everybody was in that situation. You (Williams) were in that situation. Ms. Williams was the one who did it that day and stepped up when she needed to.”
Howe said Williams will receive a plaque in recognition of her life-saving efforts when the school district holds its annual awards ceremony in June.
In other business, the board members accepted a comprehensive annual financial report (audit) for the 2020-21 school year. The fiscal year covered by the audit ended on June 30, 2021.
No recommendations for corrective action were made in the audit of the district’s finances and financial record keeping.
In accordance with state law, the governing body of every municipality and school district must conduct an annual audit of its books, accounts and financial transactions. The school district’s audit was conducted by Samuel Klein and Company.
Board members accepted the audit and acknowledged there were no recommendations arising from the firm’s review of the financial operations. Because no recommendations were made, no corrective action plan for 2020 or 2021 was required or necessary.
And, board members rejected two bids that were received for the planned replacement of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school, Dutch Lane Road.
According to district administrators, bids were received from AMCO Enterprise Inc., which bid $2.75 million and $2.09 million; and from Preferred Mechanical Inc., which bid $2.89 million and $2.19 million.
Following consultation with the school district’s architect and counsel, board members decided to postpone the planned replacement of the school’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, according to district administrators.
