Jordan, Evans, McGough win Freehold board seats
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Two incumbents and one newcomer were elected to three-year terms on the Freehold Borough Board of Education in the April 17 election.

Incumbent Annette Jordan, who has served on the board since 2001, incumbent Audrey Evans, who was appointed to the board in June 2006, and newcomer Dr. Eileen McGough, who sits on the borough's Zoning Board of Adjustment, were elected last week.

Jordan, 44, who has lived on Birch Drive for 17 years, received 445 votes. She will begin her third term and said she is looking forward to serving for another three years. Her goal as a board member is to see that children get a good, quality education.

It's always about funding," Jordan said. "The goal is to provide a thorough and efficient education for our children."

Jordan said, "it scares me to see the way we fund education." She said she believes school districts are headed for disaster if the present method of funding is not changed by the state Legislature.

Jordan, an advertising manager for the Asbury Park Press, lives with her husband, Bob, and their children, Kassandra, 15, a student at Colts Neck High School, and Tyler, 13, a student at the Freehold Intermediate School.

Evans, 45, grew up in the borough on Parker Street. She received 431 votes. She lives in the home in which she grew up and has worked as a financial analyst for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, for 10 years. Evans said she wanted to be a board member to do

her part to make a difference and make certain Freehold's children receive a proper educational foundation.

"I feel like I can help because I am a parent and because these children will one day be running the country," she said.

The most important issue she see facing the school district is school funding. Evans said she wants to "fill in the gaps" and not have any additional school funding, if it is received, be only a temporary solution.

"Operating without proper funds will create a hardship and we cannot put this hardship on our remaining teachers. We will be creating our own destruction and we will not be giving our children what they need," she said.

Evans lives with her husband, Brian, and their children, Alexis, 14, a student at the Freehold Intermediate School, Khalayah, 15, a student at Freehold High School, and Jared, 19, a student at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft.

McGough, 44, owns and operates Atlas Chiropractic, West Main Street. She received 432 votes. McGough has owned a home in the borough for five years. She has been a member of the zoning board for four years and is in her second year as a member of the Monmouth Council of Girl Scouts. The doctor has owned her own chiropractic business for 19 years.

"I love living in Freehold and I enjoy being part of the community. I don't like hearing that our school system is not very good and that people don't want to send their children to the public schools here," she said. "I decided that I needed to become involved to see what the truth was and to help in any way I can to make this town proud of its schools. The future of this country lies in the education of its people. Quality education is very important to me."