Hazlet board fills vacancy

HAZLET - Following the recent resignation of Richard Barney from the township's Board of Education, Lauri O'Leary has been selected to fill the spot.

Barney resigned from the board for what were termed as personal reasons after 11 years of service.

O'Leary, 32, was chosen Sept. 11 from a pool of candidates who submitted their applications.

"I saw an advertisement in the paper recently and decided to go ahead and apply," O'Leary said. "It's something I've always wanted to do, to be able to help out in my community."

Having worked previously during her high school and college years for the Matawan Board of Education, O'Leary did have some familiarity with what goes on with school districts. She says she has no issues or agendas and is coming with a clean slate.

"My goal is to just help with education," said O'Leary, who has two children, ages 4 and 2.

In addition to raising two young ones, O'Leary also has a full-time job at Lucent Technologies, Holmdel. Still, she said she received plenty of support from those closest to her when it came to decide if she would actually go for the school board position.

"I had plenty of support from family. It was never like I had people telling me that I already had a full plate and that I shouldn't do what I wanted to do," O'Leary explained. "All I want do is help the board to do what's best for the kids around here."

- Dan Newman