Muly Resigns From Manasquan School Board

Christine Muly on Tuesday resigned from the Manasquan Board of Education, officials said. 

Muly, who has not attended several of the board's recent meetings, sent her letter of resignation to the school board office, President Michelle LaSala confirmed Tuesday. 

Muly is the fourth board member to resign since the beginning of last school year after Trish Brown and Jim Smith  in May, and Pete Kenny resigned last fall. 

Muly could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. 

LaSala said she would comment on Muly's resignation letter once it is made public at , scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Elementary School (preceded by an open sesson at 6 p.m. to discuss the district's goals for next school year). 

Muly last month with borough police alleging harassment by fellow member Mike Shelton, roughly a month before his appointment to fill one of two seats vacated by Brown and Smith. 

Shelton, according to the police report and other documents, sent an email to board Attorney R. Armen McComber in early June asking Muly to resign or he would file various criminal and ethics charges against her. 

A subsequent county investigation revealed that, because Muly was a public figure, Shelton was within his legal right to ask for her resignation. 

Muly also alleged harassment from sitting board members in January as her reason for .

While Brown and Kenny had cited personal/family commitments and work-related conflicts, respectively, as their reasons for stepping down, Smith's resignation letter cited "philosophical, educational and personal differences" with the board at-large.

LaSala on Tuesday said that, despite the recent resignations, the board was "functioning well.

"We've made a lot of changes in the last couple of months, and a lot of that goes to (the fact that) we were doing a lot of procedures and processes that were not correct. And when things started to have to be done the way they were supposed to, I'm not sure that sat well with everybody," LaSala said. 

The board president added that the board has "come a long way" since she was elected more than a year ago. 

"We actually conduct business, and a lot of the personal drama that seems to seize control of what often gets reported takes away, I think, from what we're actually doing," LaSala said.

When asked why the board has seen four resignations since the beginning of last school year, LaSala said she couldn't speak for anyone else, adding that the "dramatic" portrayal of board members' relationships in certain newspapers was not accurate. 

"I'm proud to be sitting with everybody I'm with now and I think we are moving the district forward, and I take offense when people say otherwise because I'm there and I know," LaSala said. "We do get business done and unfortunately that gets overlooked, and my hope is now that all the personal things are behind us."