Board members excited about continuing service
Keelan, Reich, DeFonzo are running unopposed for school board seats
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Jim Keelan, Adam Reich and Andrew DeFonzo are running unopposed in the April 15 school election to retain their seats on the Freehold Borough Board of Education.

They are seeking new three-year terms.

Keelan, 42, is the current board president. He has served on the board since 2001 and said he wants to continue serving Freehold residents and their children.

"I am looking to continue to improve the quality of life for our students," he said.

Keelan cited grants received from outside sources as one way of acquiring funds that has helped the district in recent years. He said officials will continue to pursue whatever grants are available in order to provide more opportunities for the children and so as not to "burden the taxpayers."

Keelan noted that Freehold Borough children have made significant gains on standardized tests and said those gains have been made with limited resources.

He touched on the topic of space needs in the district's schools.

"The space issue is not gone and over the next year we will address this serious concern," Keelan said. "We will work with funds provided by the Borough Council and hopefully use those funds toward helping to eliminate some of our space issues." 

Keelan and his wife, Debbie, have four daughters, three of whom attend Freehold Borough schools and one who is a student at Freehold High School.

Reich, 27, has served on the board since 2004. His father, Ron, is also a member of the board. His goal for the next three years is to bring the school district up to what the state now calls the adequacy level in regard to school funding.

"We did receive a nice injection of funds with the new state aid we received" for 2008-09, Reich said. "We want to try to give our kids some of the nice things that we haven't been able to give them for years. This is the first time in a long time we can afford some of those things. We are going to concentrate on bringing the school district up to par where we should be and we will be monitoring ourselves to make sure we are wisely progressing in the right way."

 

Reich is concerned about maintaining what he called proper class size.

"Studies have shown that smaller class sizes produce better students and the teaching is more personal. When you bump up the class size, you lose some of that. It becomes harder to provide that more personal environment. Our administration and superintendent have tried not to push our class size to higher limits."

In looking forward to serving for another three years, DeFonzo, 33, said, "We've had a lot of good luck lately. We have been able to do things we haven't been able to do for the last five or six years for our students and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

He said it is important that the state deliver all of the aid that has been promised to the district. He said Freehold Borough officials have to keep abreast of the situation.

DeFonzo said state Sen. Jennifer Beck was instrumental in helping the district acquire additional school funding.

"She did amazing things for us," he said. "She was able to get school officials and parents and staff in front of the decision makers to talk about our difficulties."

DeFonzo said he intends to "keep plugging away" to make sure the children of Freehold Borough get what they deserve.