The Matawan Aberdeen Regional School District Board of Education appointed a principal and an assistant principal for Lloyd Road School and a K-12 director of instruction and evaluation at a special action meeting Monday night.

Holmdel Village Elementary School Assistant Principal has accepted the position of principal at Lloyd Road School. She begins on Sept. 1 at a salary of $129,404 a year, according to Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education President Charles Kenny. She will fill the vacancy left by former principal Luigi Laugelli, who resigned in June after spending one year with the district.

Mona Tobia will leave the Hazlet School District as a computer teacher and sixth grade administrative aid at Beers Street School to join Lloyd Road School as the assistant principal starting on Oct. 15. She will fill a position that was eliminated during the 2009-10 academic year due to budget cuts. At Beers Street, Tobia worked closely with former longtime principal Marc Natanagara, who is also moving to the Matawan-Aberden school district, to work as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. 

Previously, the board appointed Matthew Howell in May as the assistant principal, however shortly after he began working for the district he accepted a job as a principal with the Oceanport School District.

Both Ledford and Tobia may start earlier if their districts allow them to terminate their respective contracts earlier, Kenny explained.

Lloyd Road School has been a subject of debate at the last few board of education meetings, where parents and teachers spoke out against several staff array changes and questioned the stability of an upper elementary school that had no principal and no assistant principal, along with a new secretary and guidance counselor.

Kenny is confident that the new principal and assistant principal will help the school be successful.

“We’ve got some great leaders over at Lloyd Road and we look forward to a really good year. A lot of work went in to getting these candidates and I know that they’ve promised that they’re going to do a great job with Lloyd Road,” Kenny said.

The board also appointed John Bombardier as the K-12 director of instruction and evaluation. Bombardier, who previously worked at Red Bank Regional School District, will earn a salary of $127,904. He is expected to start on Oct. 15, unless he is released early from his contract.

The next meeting of the Board of Education will take place on Monday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. at One Crest Way in Aberdeen.