The slates are set for the April 15 school board elections.
Some of the races are contested while other candidates are running unopposed. All the hopefuls had to file their petitions to run for school board seats by the deadline of 4 p.m. Monday.
Long Branch
The race will be hotly contested as three incumbents, each finishing up a three-year term, will be challenged by three newcomers. The incumbents are William Knox of 358 Florence Ave., who has served eight terms for a total of 24 years; Mary George of 700 Woodgate Ave., who has served three terms for a total of nine years; and Lucille Perez of 298 Slocum Place who has served two terms for a total of six years.
Incumbents will be challenged by Lorenzo W. Dangler of 112 Seventh Ave.; Joseph Huff Jr. of 260 Central Ave.; and Harold F. "Pudgy" Cooper of 113 South Seventh Ave., who has run unsuccessfully nine times for a seat on the board.
Ocean Township
In Ocean Township there are three seats to be filled with four candidates that have submitted nominating petitions. Of those four petitions, William J. Garofalo of 2 Lloyd Place is the sole incumbent; he has served one three-year term. Challengers are Denise D. Parlamas of 334 Roosevelt Ave.; Anne Marie Sparaco of 5 Lancaster Dr.; and Thomas McGrory of 3 Lambert Johnson Dr.
Eatontown
A contest between five candidates for three seats on the Eatontown Board of Education has shaped up at the conclusion of a year that was marked by turmoil over the selection of a new superintendent of schools.
All three incumbents are seeking re-election. They are Charles H. "Skip" Fisher, a former board president, of 13 Old Queens Court; Kevin Gonzalez, of 4 Surrey Lane; and Tom Smock, of 306 Broad St.
Challenging them for the three-year terms are Fredrick Naimoli, also a past president, of 37 Sherwood Drive, and Dora Marcouiller, of 469 Wall St.
Monmouth Beach
Three incumbents whose seats are up on the Monmouth Beach Board of Education have filed for re-election. They face no opposition. The candidates are Cheryl Britton, of 19 Monmouth Parkway; Dave Baker, of 39 River Ave.; and Jay Maney, of 81 Riverdale Ave.
West Long Branch
There will be a change in the composition of the West Long Branch Board of Education.
Three seats with three-year terms are up for election, but only two of the incumbents have filed as candidates. They are Mary E. Orendorff-Gassman, the board president, of South Belle Drive; and Michael S. Keszler, of 16 Norwood Court.
Kellie T. Campbell, of 200 Parker Rd., also filed as a candidate. She will be seeking the seat being vacated by incumbent Rosemary Penta, of 8 DeCamp Court, who chose not to file for re-election.
Shore Regional High School
There will be no contest for the Board of Education at Shore Regional High School, West Long Branch.
Three seats are up for election this year and only the three incumbents have filed for them. All are for three-year terms.
The candidates seeking re-election are: for a seat from Sea Bright, Joan Brearley, 23 Village Road, who has been a board member since 1997; for a seat from Monmouth Beach, Anthony Moro, of 7 West Street, who has served on the board since 1985; and for a seat from Oceanport, Paul Rolleri, of 69 Monmouth Rd., who’s been on the board since 1994.
Monmouth Regional
High School District
In the Monmouth Regional High School District, the incumbents are running unopposed for yet another three-year term each.
They are: Linda Thatcher, 50, of Raleigh Court, Eatontown; Paul L. Hicks, 84, of High Street, Eatontown; and Jonathan Cohen, 51, of Silvercrest Drive, Tinton Falls.
Thatcher and Hicks will represent Eatontown on the regional board and Cohen will represent Tinton Falls.
Cohen is also on the Tinton Falls school board. He concurrently serves on both boards and was president on the Tinton Falls board two years ago. He is now at the end of his second three-year term in Tinton Falls. Cohen is opting to only continue on the Monmouth Regional Board.