The Verona Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, December 12, was the last of the year and the last meeting for Lisa Freschi, who stepped down after nine years of service to the community.
Well before she was first elected in 2014, Freschi had been a long-time participant in BOE meetings, having served as a representative for School Community Associations (SCAs) at the elementary, middle and high school level, as well as on several BOE committees. She is a resident of Verona since 1998 and all three of her sons graduated from Verona High School.
After being the top vote-getter in 2014, she faced a stiff challenge when she ran for re-election in 2017 from VHS graduate Connor McCann, winning by just 10 votes. She served as the BOE’s vice president during that term and in 2019 was elected president. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Freschi ran for a third term. Although the BOE had come under sharp criticism from a small but vocal group of parents for closing the schools and pivoting to online learning, she had no challengers in that race and received 5,500 votes.
Freschi served on the BOE during a period of substantial change in the Verona school district, from its finances to its aging buildings. (Two Verona school buildings are more than 100 years old; the “newest,” VHS, was built more than 60 years ago.) There were upgrades to lighting, heating, air conditioning, and security; the track at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School was resurfaced and the upper and lower fields at VHS were renovated, as well as its tennis court. All six Verona schools got a new roof and voters approved two ballot questions to make Verona’s kindergarten program full day and expand school mental health services. The BOE developed strategic plans to guide future improvements and invited a review of school culture, including diversity, equity and inclusion.
Armed with a seemingly unremarkable background in office administration, Freschi heavily scrutinized the numbers in every resolution and school budget that came before her. When she joined the BOE, Verona was still reeling from sharp cuts in state aid enacted by former Gov. Chris Christie. While New Jersey hasn’t yet managed to fully fund public K-12 schools based on the state’s own school finance law and schools operate under a cumbersome cap that limits budget increases to two percent, the Verona BOE has managed to grow the district’s assets more than its liabilities. The accounting firm that audits the district said at Tuesday’s meeting that Verona now has capital reserves ($2.3 million), maintenance reserves ($650,000) and an unemployment compensation reserve ($24,020), which can be carried to the next budget to blunt possible budget shortfalls.
Freschi’s husband, Dave Freschi, praised her work ethic at last night’s meeting. “She took the role very seriously,” he said. “Those packets that come home, she went through it line by line with a highlighter. If she didn’t understand it, she would ask questions. She would do her own research, she would call people. When she got to the meetings, she was well prepared.” Her efforts were also highlighted by former BOE members Jim Day and Glenn Elliott. “If there was something to be learned, Lisa learned it,” Elliott said. Reese Sahadow, the student representative to the BOE, thanked Freschi for helping her learn about the board. “You exemplified what a community leader should be,” she said.
The BOE’s next meeting will be January 2, 2024. This is its reorganization meeting and new board member Mike Boone will be sworn in.
