Brian Graime has been elected by his fellow members of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education to serve as the panel’s president for 2023.
The board held its 2023 reorganization meeting on Jan. 3.
Business Administrator/Board Secretary Veronica Wolf opened the meeting by reading the certified results of the November election during which four individuals won election to the school board.
In a contested race for three three-year terms representing Manalapan, incumbent board members Christine Parisi (7,988 votes), David Kane (7,738 votes) and Ryan Green (4,388 votes) were elected to terms that will run through December 2025.
Green won his seat by 14 votes over Stacey Einziger (4,374 votes).
There was an unexpired one-year term that had to be filled by a resident of Manalapan, but no resident filed a nominating petition to appear on the ballot.
Gerald Bruno, who had been serving on the board, received 518 write-in votes during the election and accepted the one-year term.
Parisi, Kane, Green and Bruno took the oath of office during the reorganization meeting.
They are joined on the board by Dotty Porcaro, Jesse Tossetti, David Ferber, Ryan Urgo and Graime.
The nine-member board is made up of eight residents of Manalapan and one resident (Tossetti) of Englishtown.
The terms currently being served by Porcaro, Urgo and Bruno will expire at the end of December.
During regular business, Tossetti nominated Graime to serve as president during 2023 and he was elected on a unanimous vote. Graime also held the position in 2022.
Urgo then nominated Kane to serve as vice president during 2023 and he was elected to the position on a unanimous vote.
During her regular report to the board, Superintendent of Schools Nicole Santora noted that new residential developments are being constructed and have been approved for construction in Manalapan.
With that construction activity in mind, Santora informed the board members the most recent demographic study of the school district was conducted in 2018.
During the past three or four years, enrollment has declined by about 200 students, she said.
Santora said her goal is to have a new demographic study conducted which will project the district’s enrollment for the next five years and give administrators a map of how to plan for the future.
The superintendent said the results of the demographic study would be shared with the public upon its completion.
The district’s enrollment on Oct. 15, 2020 was 4,616 pupils and on Oct. 15, 2021 the enrollment was 4,605 pupils. The estimated enrollment on Oct. 15, 2022 was 4,484 pupils, according to a budget document posted on the district’s website.
The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District is made up of the John I. Dawes Early Learning Center; six elementary schools (Wemrock Brook, Milford Brook, Pine Brook, Lafayette Mills, Clark Mills, Taylor Mills); and the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School.