BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE — Members of the Board of Education re-elected Kathy Winecoff last week as its board president.
During the board’s reorganization meeting on April 26, members voted 7-1, with one abstention, for Winecoff to serve as president.
Board members chose Mary Ann Friedman, who won her third term in the April 19 election, as vice president. Friedman replaces Mary Pinney, who opted not to run for re-election this year. Friedman won by a vote of 8-1.
Board member Thomas Foley cast the dissenting votes against Winecoff and Friedman.
Since the school district does not currently have its own high school, Millstone works with the Upper Freehold Regional School District in a send-receive program. Board member Sami Qutub will serve as the new Millstone representative for the Upper Freehold Regional School District. Longtime representative Patricia Coffey decided not to seek re-election to the board.
Qutub said he will have “a lot to live up to” as Coffey’s replacement. He said he spoke with her and asked her for guidance. Coffey gave him advice, he said, about juggling the duties of membership on both boards.
“It’s a new era,” Qutub said.
While Peter Kudrick and Holly Deitz are board newcomers, this will mark Winecoff’s eighth year on the board.
Winecoff said she was pleased to be voted in again this year as president.
“I am hoping it provides consistency with regard to the new building project,” Winecoff said. “I think the transition from planning to building will be easier, as I have been intimately involved with all aspects of the building project.”
The district is currently constructing a new middle school on what is commonly known as the Waters property, near Baird and Roberts roads. In December, voters passed a $30.8 million referendum for the new middle school.
As senior board member, Winecoff said she is looking forward to mentoring Kudrick, Deitz and Friedman.
Friedman, she said, “has the potential to become a very effective Board of Education president in the near future.”
Winecoff said she also wants to continue working with the Township Committee to find ways to save taxpayers money through shared resources.
“I also think we need to continue working toward additional representation on the Upper Freehold regional board as a viable goal,” she said.
As liaison to the Upper Freehold Regional School District, Qutub said he would like to expand the partnership between Millstone and Upper Freehold.
“As both continue to grow and the state continues to squeeze [money],” he said, “it’s important to work well together and help each other.”
Qutub said he will take part in the search for a new superintendent in the Upper Freehold Regional School District, as Superintendent Robert Connelly will retire as district head at the end of the school year.