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Post by andrewd on Apr 3, 2007 16:12:53 GMT -5
Just a notice (well in advance) that the next Board of Ed meeting is on Monday April 20th, at 7pm in the Park Avenue School Library.
This will be the first meeting after the school board and budget elections, which is known as the "reorganization meeting".
At this meeting, we will be swearing in the newly elected (and re-elected) school board members, selecting a president and vice president for the next year, and deciding on a meeting calendar for the coming year as well.
Most importantly though (in my personal opinion), the board will be making a presentation to Stella Mayes, who has decided to step down when her term is up this month, and not run for re-election.
Stella has been a pillar on the Board of Ed for over 20 years. Her knowledge, dedication, and passion will be sorely missed. I think it would be fitting if we could get a good turnout to say thank you to someone who has given her time and her energy for so long to our schools.
Please come join us that night to say thanks to Stella Mayes.
Andrew DeFonzo
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Post by Marc LeVine on Apr 3, 2007 16:35:47 GMT -5
Stella Mayes has always been the "cream of the crop" throughout her service on the Board of Education. I have always been a big fan of hers and wish her well. Many of us hope she remains active - if not with Borough education - then through other her municipal appointments, present and FUTURE.
Stella is too good to be allowed to just sit home and watch TV!!! Uh Uh! No Way!!
Marc
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Post by andrewd on Apr 4, 2007 8:08:19 GMT -5
Marc (and anyone else who is wondering or concerned),
I think you already know this but I'll say it anyways...
I have known about Stella for a number of years now, primarily through my father's involvement on the BOE, and have had the privilege of working with her for the past year on the Board. If there is one thing I can be absolutely certain of, it is that Stella is not going to just disappear into her living room to watch soap operas and American Idol.
What has always made Stella such a special person is the fact that she believes what she believes, and she is never one to be quiet when she doesn't agree with something that's going on. So unless by some miracle, the town, the schools, and everything else in this world suddenly becomes a "Stella Utopia", I am sure we'll be hearing from her again. In fact, when the announcement was made at a BOE meeting, I made the joke that "Now we're all in trouble because she's going to be out there in the audience watching us like a hawk"
...and I certainly know she will...
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Post by richardkelsey on Apr 4, 2007 9:33:42 GMT -5
Just a notice (well in advance) that the next Board of Ed meeting is on Monday April 20th, at 7pm in the Park Avenue School Library. This will be the first meeting after the school board and budget elections, which is known as the "reorganization meeting". At this meeting, we will be swearing in the newly elected (and re-elected) school board members, selecting a president and vice president for the next year, and deciding on a meeting calendar for the coming year as well. Most importantly though (in my personal opinion), the board will be making a presentation to Stella Mayes, who has decided to step down when her term is up this month, and not run for re-election. Stella has been a pillar on the Board of Ed for over 20 years. Her knowledge, dedication, and passion will be sorely missed. I think it would be fitting if we could get a good turnout to say thank you to someone who has given her time and her energy for so long to our schools. Please come join us that night to say thanks to Stella Mayes. Andrew DeFonzo The only word to adequately describe Stella Mays is - Class. Freehold will miss her contribution. She was a tireless community servant who raised her family in Freehold -- and gave back all she had to her community. Her kids were all wonderful too -- I remember them well. |
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Post by andrewd on Apr 20, 2007 6:12:11 GMT -5
Just wanted to get this thread back up to the top of the page and remind everyone once again that this coming Monday, April 23rd, the BOE will have their re-organization meeting.
At this meeting, we the district will be recognizing Stella Mayes for her 20+ years of service to the Freehold Boro School District. I invite everyone to come down and help us say thank you to Stella who has worked tirelessly over the years to give the children of our town the best possible opportunities.
As always, 7pm in the Park Avenue School Library...I even hear there will be some refreshments as well!!! See you all there.
Andrew DeFonzo
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Post by Jaye Sims on Apr 20, 2007 15:03:00 GMT -5
Andrew,
It just so happens that I just got off of the phone with Stella and both my family and I plan on being there Monday night. My family has known the Mayes for along time. My older brother went to school with her son and my older sisters went to school with her daughter. She will be truly missed. The work she has done while she served on the BOE is just remarkable. It will be a great moment for Freehold Borough on Monday night. This is the kind of publicity that this town needs.
Jaye Sims
Freehold Borough Council
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Post by admin on Apr 20, 2007 16:23:53 GMT -5
Andrew,
I went into the admin functions and set it up so that you should be able to make announcments, which will appear on every board, sticky a thread which will remain at the top of that board, and bump a thread which will move it to the top of that board. This is a courtesy that I extend to any elected Freehold Borough official who take the time to participate on this site. Your participation has been a great value, and I believe you should have the tools at your disposal to do the most good.
And do not forget, as a registered user of this site, you can also add events to the calendar feature as well.
These are all limited admin functions that should help you to get points and messages out to our readers.
Brian
admin
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Post by admin on Apr 24, 2007 4:24:26 GMT -5
Last night was a good BOE meeting, with people standing due to a lack of seating. ( good thing). Stella Mayes received a very good thank you from many people from our town for all of her years of service. www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/NEWS/70423063/1001/rss20-year veteran says goodbye to Freehold Board of Education Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/23/07 BY NICK PETRUNCIO FREEHOLD BUREAU FREEHOLD — A new face on the Board of Education tonight officially replaced one that has been there for 20 years. The board, at a combined organization and action meeting, swore in newcomer Eileen McGough along with re-elected incumbents Audrey Evans and Annette Jordan, and said goodbye to 20-year veteran Stella Mayes. The three board members ran unchallenged. After two decades of service, Mayes, 63, leaves a financially struggling and overcrowded district; voters last week approved a bare-bones budget and a special ballot question that saved extracurricular sports and other activities. However, 12 staff positions still will be eliminated, and the specifics on those cuts are scheduled to be addressed at the April 30 meeting. The board and an audience of Mayes' family and church members, friends and representatives of civic organizations, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the United Black Families of Freehold gave Mayes a standing ovation and presented her with gifts and well wishes for her service. "This community has always supported me,'' Mayes said. "I look at it (her experience on the board), and it was all good.'' Ready to begin her experience on the board is McGough, a 44-year-old chiropractor who does not have children and who has lived in Freehold for 5 years. "The way I understand it, the borough is facing some challenges so I just wanted to get on the board and see how I could help,'' McGough said. She said she has heard both that the district is a good one and also that it is a bad one and parents don't want to send their kids there. She continued by saying she first wants to find the truth and then she'll know how she can help. The challenges the district will face in the upcoming school year are funding, overcrowding and improving its standardized test scores, according to resident Julie Kudish. "I think the biggest thing is funding,'' said Kudish, who added that the state is guilty of overmandating and underfunding the school district. Resident Brian Sullivan believes the biggest challenge will be talking to state legislators in Trenton and said they will have to start listening come Election Day. "It's very painful the way they tax people,'' Sullivan said. He added that the Abbott districts, ones the state classifies as poor and as a result allocates extra aid to them, are hurting the Freehold district, which does not have the Abbott classification but also is not considered to be among the wealthy districts, either. Resident Ted Miller said a permanent solution is needed so the district is not in the same financial situation next year. He said that means the state school funding formula needs to be fixed. District officials are planning meetings with state legislators in the future and the three legislators representing Freehold have said they are working to help the district. Also at the meeting, board member James Keelan was appointed for a second term as president, and board member Ron Reich was appointed vice president
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Post by fiberisgoodforyou on Apr 24, 2007 7:30:20 GMT -5
"does not have children and who has lived in Freehold for 5 years"
Great, not one Parent with kids in our Schools RAN FOR THIS POST! SHAME ON US! I hope this will not be a "RUBBER STAMP" Board Member!
"first wants to find the truth and then she'll know how she can help."
AN amazing proclamation, A simply translation....,"Equaly CLUELESS about the problems as well as the cure???"
This school board also needs to remember that they do NOT have a "Majority Mandate" from the Boro... LESS than 500 voters supported this board and budget, from a municipality of 4000 voters!
Wait till next April when there are going to spring the $8-$10 Million Dollar School building referendum on us!
I hope this board will not go from bad to worse!
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Post by andrewd on Apr 24, 2007 12:14:56 GMT -5
I would like to thank everyone that showed up for last nights meeting, as Brian said, it was standing room only as the community came out to show some real appreciation for Stella and her years of service.
I don't think it could have been said any better than it was last night...so I am not even going to try.
I did tell Stella that she wasn't off the hook yet...I told her I plan on calling her from time to time to seek her advice, ask her opinion, or to get some history on something that we may be dealing with...and in true Stella form, she told me "you call me anytime you need to".
Stella's constant presence will be sorely missed, but I don't think her husband has to be concerned about losing his Monday Night Football, because as I said before, Stella is not the type to slip into obscurity.
As for the rest of the meeting...we welcomed Eileen McGough to the board (and welcomed back Audrey Evans and Annette Jordan). Eileen, from my brief interaction with her last night, is a very intelligent woman who will speak her mind, which is always good for the board. She is another example of a community member who does not have children in the school, but does have a passion for education...which is in my mind an ideal situation for what we do. I look forward to working with her over the next couple of years.
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