MARLBORO — Two newcomers and a former member have been elected to serve three-year terms on the nine-member Marlboro K-8 School District Board of Education.
According to results of the 2022 general election that have been posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, Annette Siewert, Valentina Mendez and Michael Lilonsky were elected to the school board.
Six candidates were in the Nov. 8 race to win three three-year terms on the board. In addition to Siewert, Mendez and Lilonsky, the field included Anu Shanbhag and incumbent board members Randy Heller and Jennifer Silacci.
According to election results reported on the Monmouth County Votes website that is posted by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, as of Nov. 15, Siewert had 7,107 votes, Mendez had 6,899 votes, and Lilonsky had 6,576 votes.
Heller, 4,781 votes, Silacci, 4,864 votes, and Shanbhang, 4,369 votes, were not elected.
The results of the school board election are unofficial until they have been certified.
Lilonsky served on the board from April 2007 through January 2017. His service included terms as vice president (2010) and president (2011-16).
“First, I would like to thank the residents of Marlboro for once again showing their support for me and entrusting me as a board member with the safety, security and education of their children,” Lilonsky said.
“I look forward to working with the full board, the administration and teachers, with input from our parents, to start to mitigate what I see as the learning gap caused by the (coronavirus) pandemic.
“I plan to hit the ground running, hearing the concerns of our parents, fellow board members, the administration and our amazing teachers, working together to find solutions while keeping in mind all involved.
“I look forward with great anticipation to our reorganization meeting and my next three years on the board,” Lilonsky said.
Mendez, who has been a resident of Marlboro for two-and-a-half years, said, “I am so grateful to the community for believing in us (Siewart, Lilonsky and Mendez ran as a team) and I am looking forward to the great things we can all accomplish together in the future.”
Siewert has three children in Marlboro schools and said, “It will be a great honor to serve this wonderful community as a member of the board.”
“It was with great pleasure to campaign alongside Valentina Mendez and Michael Lilonsky. We persevered through the experience and were able to deliver our message: Preserve academic excellence while supporting parent involvement.
“We are so proud and grateful for the parents who supported our grassroots efforts and we heard their voices loud and clear. … We thank (voters) for trusting and believing in us. We vow to make (them) proud of (their) vote,” Siewart said.
According to the New Jersey School Boards Association, “The school board has a dual role: To represent the concerns of the citizens, taxpayers and parents to the school administrators, and to represent the needs of the students and school district to the citizens, taxpayers and parents of the community.
“The school board does not operate the district on a day-to-day basis; that is the job of the superintendent, who is the district’s chief executive. Rather, the school board sets the policies, goals and objectives for the district – and it holds the superintendent responsible for implementing the policies and achieving the goals,” according to the NJSBA.
School board members serve as volunteers without compensation.
