Freehold Township Board of Education elects Michael Amoroso president, approves organizational slate for 2026

The Freehold Township Board of Education elected Michael Amoroso as board president and completed its annual organizational business at a reorganization meeting in January. The board administered oaths to newly elected members, approved administrative appointments and purchasing authorizations, adopted procedural rules and fees, and set committee assignments for 2026.

The meeting opened with the presiding official noting that the meeting notice had been posted at district school bulletin boards, the Board of Education administrative office entrance, the district website, and the Freehold Township Clerk's office; legal notices were published in the Asbury Park Press and sent to the Star-Ledger. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the board administered oaths of office to newly elected trustees Renata Brand, Peter Conforti and Eleanor O'Sullivan.

In the election for president, a board member nominated Michael Amoroso. The board conducted a roll-call vote and elected Amoroso. Recorded votes on the president's roll call (as read into the record) were: Michael Amoroso — Yes; Renata Brand — Yes; Dr. Casey — No; Peter Conforti — Yes; Ms. Crosby — No; Neil Gargiulo — Yes; Michelle Lambert — Yes; Eleanor O'Sullivan — Yes; Ms. Feeler — Yes. The presiding officer announced the motion carried.

The board then opened nominations for vice president; a nominee identified as "Helena" received the support needed and the motion carried on a roll call (the transcript does not record a full surname for the vice president nominee).

On organizational business, the superintendent recommended and the board approved multiple routine appointments and authorities: designation of name stamps for the board president and superintendent on district checks; approval of signature practices and custodial signing processes; appointment of Neil Gargiulo to the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission; Michelle Lambert as the district representative to the Monmouth County School Boards Association legislative committee; Carmela Spieler as the district delegate to the New Jersey School Boards delegate assembly; Renata Brand as liaison to the Freehold Municipal Alliance to prevent substance abuse; Diane Butthauer as district school safety specialist; Robert DeVita as business administrator and board secretary and as public agency compliance officer and custodian of records; and Allison Williams as assistant board secretary. The board also authorized the business administrator to award contracts below stated thresholds when appropriate; the transcript references an aggregate authorization at 15% of the bid threshold (noted in the meeting as $7,950) and the applicable bid threshold at $53,000.

The board adopted administrative procedures and fees: retaining previously effective bylaws, policies and regulations for 2026; designating the Asbury Park Press as the district's official newspaper for legal advertisements; authorizing claims prepayment authority under cited statute for certain routine obligations; setting photocopy fees of 5¢ per page for letter-size copies and 7¢ per page for legal-size or larger; and adopting Robert's Rules of Order, 11th edition, as the parliamentary manual for board proceedings. Those items were bundled in an omnibus motion, seconded, and approved by voice vote.

After the votes, President Michael Amoroso gave brief remarks outlining the board's priorities: "This year is gonna be a year when we're gonna start our referendum infrastructure projects," he said, adding the board's goal is to implement work with "absolutely no disruption to student learning" and to address long-standing safety concerns. He announced committee assignments: policy (Chair: Emily; members: Elena and Michelle), curriculum (Chair: Todd; members: Carmela and Peter), and finance (Chair: Neil; members: Michael and Renata).

The board opened a public-participation period, noted the sign-in and three-minute limit rules, and recorded that no members of the public spoke. A motion to adjourn carried and the meeting ended.

Actions recorded in the meeting included the election of board officers, adoption of the code of ethics and Robert's Rules of Order, designation of the Asbury Park Press as official newspaper, multiple administrative appointments, authorization for contract-award thresholds, and adoption of copy fees and claims prepayment authority. Where the transcript listed roll-call results, the article reports the votes as read into the record; where only voice votes were recorded, the article reports the board approved the motion by voice vote.

Next procedural steps: the board will proceed with committee work and begin planning to implement referendum-funded infrastructure projects, with administration and the appointed business administrator handling contracts and procurement under the authorizations approved at this meeting.