Millstone school board taps Foley as president Public charges body with being more forthcoming with info. BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer After 11 years on the Millstone Township Board of Education, Thomas Foley is finally the president. Although Foley had been nominated for the position in previous years, he didn't receive enough votes to clinch it until the board'sApril 28 reorganization meeting. Foley defeated last year's vice president, Holly Deitz, in a 6-2 vote, with Deitz and Kevin McGovern voting against his election. The board unanimously elected Margaret Gordon as its vice president. Bradley Winfree was sworn in, as were returning members Deitz and Mc- Govern. The board continues to have an empty seat because no one filed to run for the third three-year term up for grabs in the April 15 election. By law, the board must fill the position within 65 days. Foley said the board has a large number of candidates to interview for the available seat. He commented that some people may not be comfortable with the process of running for election. The board appointed member Laura Dreifus as the school district's voting representative and Winfree and Deitz as nonvoting representatives on the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education. Millstone has one official seat on the regional board as it shares Allentown High School with the neighboring school district. Last year, the board only voted to have one nonvoting member on the regional board. Dreifus noted that this will probably be the last year she serves on the board. She said it would be a good idea to have two people back her up on the regional board who could easily "jump in" next year. Deitz commented that Millstone does not have much say regarding the Upper Freehold Regional School District's budget even though Allentown High School tuition remains a fixed cost in the Millstone School District budget. She said it is critical for Millstone to have representatives attend the regionalmeetings if it wants to see changes made. Foley said he would like the board to more actively lobby legislators on education issues.He said the district losesmore than $200,000 in state aid because of its tuition situation with theUpper Freehold Regional School District. He also said the board needs to start anticipating when the revenue from the new Performing Arts Center will start coming in. Resident Ramon Recalde asked what the board expects to do about residents voting no on the school budget. He also took issue with the board not following up on comments and ideas from the public. As an example, Recalde cited the issue of unused food being thrown out during Diversity Day. When Arlene Agulnick, a middle school teacher and one of the originators of Diversity Day, began to explain the food situation, Foley said that he would prefer if she didn't address the issue because she is president of the teachers' union. Agulnick spoke to Recalde anyway and stated that new custodians mistakenly took unused food and disposed of it, whereas in previous years, it had been donated to a food bank or local charity. Teacher and resident Irene Pearson challenged the reorganized board with speaking honestly and openly to the public. "When a question is asked, answer it," she said. "Get the public to believe that you are being forthright." Foley said the board will make every effort to be honest and forthright with the information it has as long as it is ready to be released publicly. "It takes a village, and this village is not communicating well," he said.