Freehold Borough
Kalafat confident new supt.
will have smooth transition
Freehold Borough’s
top administrator
to retire at end of
current school year
By dick metzgar
Staff Writer
With the completion of what in 1990 may have appeared to be a series of almost impossible projects to improve and expand Freehold Borough’s K-8 school district, Superintendent of Schools Janet Kalafat is retiring.
A letter announcing her retirement as the district’s top administrator, effective at the end of the current school year on June 30, was accepted by the Board of Education earlier this month.
In an interview with the News Transcript, Kalafat said three of the most important things that transpired since she took over as head of the district in early April 1990 have been a complete reworking of the district’s curriculum, the installation of state-of-the-art technology in the district’s buildings and the completion of three major projects to improve and expand the Freehold Learning Center elementary school on Dutch Lane Road and the Park Avenue Elementary School and the Freehold Intermediate School on Park Avenue.
Two multimillion-dollar projects that were deemed necessary to accommodate the district’s increasing enrollment were approved by referendums in recent years.
"I am extremely pleased with what has been accomplished in the district since I’ve been here," Kalafat, 55, said. "But I didn’t do it alone. I couldn’t have accomplished what we did without tremendous support from the board, the staff and the parents in the community. The teachers and parents are the backbone of any school district."
The board will begin its search for Kalafat’s replacement in December.
Kalafat, who lives in Manal-apan, came to Freehold Borough from the Montclair school district, where she served 14 years as an administrator, first as a principal and finally as assistant administrator. The borough’s K-8 school system is the only district that Kalafat has had to call her own.
She replaced Steven Fazekas, whose retirement as superintendent was effective at the end of January 1990. Then-Board Secretary/Business Administrator Leonard B. Williams served as acting administrator until Kalafat arrived.
Kalafat, who grew up in Cleveland, began her tenure in Freehold Borough at an annual salary of $75,000. She is now paid $135,000 per year.
"When I learned through an advertisement that the superintendent’s position in the borough was open I checked on the community and found that it was just the kind of district I was looking for," Kalafat said. "I felt that the borough was similar to the district I was coming from in Montclair as far as diversity, culture and the people were concerned. I was right."
Among other things that have been accomplished in the district while she has been at the helm, Kalafat mentioned that the board has been able to keep a relatively stable tax rate at give-or-take $1 per $100 of assessed valuation; appoint a committee to come up with a five-year strategic plan for the district; establish good relations with the teachers union without job action or strikes; and deal with a school population that soared from about 930 pupils in 1990 to 1,350 students this year.
"Our school population has increased greatly although we have had very little new housing in the town because it is an old and historic developed community, which really has very little space in which to build new housing stock," Kalafat said. "Our new and projected growth will be one of the biggest issues the new superintendent will have to deal with."
Kalafat, who has two grown sons, said she will stay active following her retirement.
"I feel fortunate to have served 30 years in public education, three as a teacher and 27 as an administrator, and now look forward to turning my avocation into a vocation," she said. "I plan to train horses and teach people, especially youngsters, how to ride them. I have also had several offers to serve as a consultant in the education field."
In addition to her work with the school district, Kalafat was also active with the Freehold Rotary Club and served as president of that community service organization in the late 1990s.
She said retirement has been on her mind for a couple of years.
"I might have left a year earlier, but I wanted to make sure that all the projects on the table were completed, and they are," Kalafat said. "I am confident that the new superintendent will take over a district that is functioning perfectly."