School Biz Admin Says Goodbye to Red Bank

Red Bank School District's Business Administrator Annie Darrow is leaving Red Bank after nearly six years on the job after accepting a position at a larger Monmouth County school district, she said recently.

Shortly after presenting the district's budget to borough council Wednesday night, Darrow said she's accepted the position of comptroller of the Howell School District, which has nearly 7,000 students in grades kindergarten through eighth compared to Red Bank's more modest 1,266, and will officially leave the borough on June 1.  

Darrow has helped mind the books for a growing district that facing many challenges, including being significantly underfunded by the state and having more than 80 percent of its student population receiving free or reduced lunch, but has been able to produce budgets that stay under the state cap while preserving teachers jobs along the way.

"In the last six years I cannot believe how far Red Bank has come. Really, I've not seen anything like it," she said. "It was a tough decision (to leave) because you're a part of that change, that improvement and you want to see it through."

Darrow joined the Red Bank nearly six years ago - her sixth year anniversary would have been August - around the same time that Superintendent Laura Morana was hired by the . Both share a longer history, however, having worked together in a Piscataway school district.

Morana said it's going to be tough to see Darrow go.

"It's been an incredible partnership," she said. "She's done so much, above and beyond the call of duty. It's been a pleasure and we're going to miss her."