DeFonzo elected board president
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD — Board of Education members elected Pete DeFonzo to serve as school board president for the coming year when the panel held its annual reorganization meeting on April 28.

DeFonzo and board member Ron Reich were nominated for the position. The vote on DeFonzo’s candidacy was 6-3 in his favor and no vote was taken on Reich’s candidacy.

DeFonzo supported his own candidacy and was joined by Jim Keelan, Stella Mayes, Victoria Muller, Charles Valenti and Rick Quinones. Voting against DeFonzo’s candidacy were Reich, Lynne Coulson and Annette Jordan.

Mayes, was re-elected to serve as vice president of the board in a unanimous vote.

Reich, Muller and Valenti and were sworn in to three-year terms on the board following their victories in the April 15 school election.

In other business, the board approved its calendar for the coming year’s meetings, which are scheduled for the first and third Monday of each month at 7 p.m.. Meetings will be held in the library of the Park Avenue Elementary School.

The meetings will be held on May 5 and 19; June 2 and 16; July 21; Aug. 18; Sept. 8 and 22; Oct. 7 and 20; Nov. 3 and 17; Dec. 1 and 15; Jan. 5 and 20, 2004; Feb. 2 and 23; March 8 and 29; and April 12 and 26.

Board members also approved numer­ous appointments at the reorganization meeting.

Appointed as the board’s attorney was Honora O’Brien Kilgallen; Dr. Miguel Sison was appointed as school physician; Gerard Stankiewicz of Samuel Klein and Company was appointed auditor; Bruce Rodman was appointed school treasurer and the district’s business administrator, Anthony Tonzini, was appointed affirma­tive action officer.