The Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education will have three seats up for grabs on the Nov. 4 ballot. Representatives from Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Marlboro will be elected that day.
There will not be a contested race for a board seat in any of those municipalities.
The board oversees the operation of the six schools in the regional district.
Newcomer Vincent Accettola will run for the Colts Neck seat. His father, Carl, is the current Colts Neck representative and will not be running for re-election.
Carl Accettola, who has served on the board since 2011, said he is proud of the work he has accomplished along with his fellow board members.
“We started to center on a total reorganization of the school district that matched the state goals,” he said. “[Superintendent of Schools Charles] Sampson has been incredibly effective in that reorganization and in making a strategic plan.”
Accettola said he is looking forward to seeing his son succeed him on the board and sharing his own ideas with the Freehold Regional community.
“He has a great desire to perform public service,” Accettola said.
Vincent Accettola, 20, is a rising junior at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., and a graduate of Biotechnology High School, Freehold Township.
Although Vincent is a student at Yale, Accettola said he would be able to manage his schedule to attend board meetings. He said he has regularly attended board meetings while his father has served as Colts Neck’s representative.
“One thing I have really learned from watching him is how important working with other people is,” he said. “There is really a sense of diplomacy that you have to maintain with everyone.”
Michael Messinger is the current representative from Marlboro and will be running for re-election. He has served on the board since 2011.
“I want to continue to work with my fellow board members and the administration to continue to keep our ultimate goal to have a nationally recognized regional high school district,” Messinger said.
Under the district’s voting rules, residents of Marlboro and Colts Neck will be eligible to vote for the Marlboro and Colts Neck representatives.
Newcomer Samuel Carollo is running for the Freehold Township seat.
Carollo’s background includes nearly 40 years of working in education. He worked in the Essex County Vocational School District for 25 years, where he taught English, history and special education before finally becoming principal of the district’s Newark Tech High School.
Carollo worked as an assistant principal at Howell High School for 14 years.
“I am very committed to education,” he said. “One of the reasons I came down to Monmouth County was because the schools are so great. It keeps our property values up, and our kids in the regional district just do phenomenal.”
Under the district’s voting rules, residents of Freehold Borough and Freehold Township will vote for the Freehold Township representative.
Maryanne Tomazic, who is the current representative from Freehold Township, is not running for re-election. She could not be reached for comment. Contact Jeremy Grossman at [email protected].