In September, Mt. Laurel Board of Education President Margaret Haynes received an honor no other board member had ever received.
She became the first one to have a district building named after her.
The school district announced its transportation building will now be called the Margaret L. Haynes Transportation and Learning Center. Haynes’ children, Jeffrey and Julie, presented her with the sign at the September Board of Education meeting.
Haynes has served longer than any board member in district history. She is in her 33rd year on the board and is running for a 12th consecutive term in November. She is running unopposed alongside fellow incumbents Diane Blair and Christine Dickson.
Serving on the board for more than three decades isn’t something she intended to do.
“I just always enjoyed it,” she said. “I was very eager to make sure the children had the best education they could get when they are in Mt. Laurel.”
Haynes’ love for public education stems from her career as a teacher in Pennsauken. Her passion for education was apparent to her friends and eventually led to her running for the Mt. Laurel board in 1981.
“I really wanted to get more involved in the schools,” Haynes said. “Ironically, my neighbor at the time was actually on the school board. He kind of encouraged me to run and I won.”
The Mt. Laurel district looked very different in 1981 than it does today. Its superintendent was the man whom the district’s middle school is named after, Thomas Harrington. Three of the district’s current schools, Larchmont Elementary, Springville Elementary and Hartford School, had not been built yet.
“It was kind of a boom time for building in Mt. Laurel,” Haynes said. “We actually had a long-range planning committee. We knew we were going to have to be adding on to schools. That was kind of an interesting period when I first got on.”
Today, Haynes said subject matters such as curriculum, technology and standardized tests take up more of the district’s attention than before.
“The state is mandating more for school districts to follow,” Haynes said.
Despite the many changes with education over the last three decades, Haynes said the passion board members have shown for the children has not changed. She described the honor of having the transportation building named after her as a testament to the board’s hard work and perseverance.
“I just feel it’s an honor of the administration, the teachers and now the board members who served before and with me,” Haynes said. “It’s not just for me, but for all of the board members who served in the district.”
While Superintendent Antoinette Rath gave Haynes credit for serving Mt. Laurel for so long, Haynes gave Rath and the district’s former superintendents credit for making the board’s job easier thanks to their proactive and program-oriented approach.
If re-elected on Nov. 4, Haynes will serve a 12th term on the board, stretching her tenure to 36 years. Haynes said she intends to continue serving as long as her passion for education does not waver.
“I’ll serve at least for the next three years, and who knows what the future holds,” she said. “I still have that same passion. As long as I enjoy it, and in the end, the kids get a great education, I’d like to keep running.”
