Voters to elect school board candidates April 15.
By: Cynthia Koons and Scott Morgan
On April 15, voters will elect candidates to fill open seats on area boards of education and will be asked to approve school board budgets. Following is a rundown of who filed nominating petitions by Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline to seek school board positions in the local districts:
Millstone
Five candidates, including two incumbents, will vie for two vacancies on the school board this April.
Laura Dreifus and Tom Foley look to retain their three-year seats, while newcomers Paula Kinsey, Thomas Falkowski and Robert Babin are seeking their first terms on the board.
Ms. Dreifus is seeking her second term while Mr. Foley is seeking his third.
Plumsted
The school board has only one open seat and only one candidate has filed to fill it.
Kathleen Sandford, who was appointed Jan. 20 to replace three-term member Keith Buckalew, seeks her first full three-year term.
While the field remains open to write-ins, Ms. Sandford is the only candidate who filed by the Monday deadline.
Upper Freehold Regional
Three seats are up for election on the school board two seats for Upper Freehold representation and one for an Allentown member. Each seat is for a term of three years.
Two incumbents and two challengers are vying for the Upper Freehold positions. The incumbents are Betty Jane Pepe and Shari Burke. They are being challenged by Frank Skube and Howard.
For the Allentown seat, newcomer Robert Sheff is running unopposed.
The school board has 11 members three from Allentown, one from Millstone, one from Plumsted and six from Upper Freehold.
Washington
There are three seats carrying three-year terms and one seat carrying a one-year term up for grabs on the school board this year.
Patrick Foti, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the board, will be running unopposed for the one-year seat.
For the three-year terms, incumbents Flo Gange, Richard Kasper and Faith Silvestrov will be challenged by Stephen Angelo, Joseph Armenti, Gerald Higham, Lewis Koushel and Blaise Ricci.
Mr. Armenti, Mr. Higham and Mr. Koushel have said they are running as a slate under the name Citizens for Affordable Education.

