Cherry Hill High School East junior Joshua Resnick discusses how recently ousted Assistant Principal David Francis-Maurer impacted his life.
Students and parents listed positive traits such as enthusiasm, approachability, kindness, sympathy and helpfulness that they said former Cherry Hill School East High School Assistant Principal David Francis-Maurer possessed as they urged the Cherry Hill Board of Education on Tuesday to reinstate him.
Francis-Maurer's contract reportedly was not renewed, and he did not voluntarily leave his job. Francis-Maurer was hired by the district on June 13, 2023, according to the school board meeting minutes from that date.
"The hiring of Dr. Francis-Maurer was the single best decision the school has made," East junior Joshua Resnick told school board members at Tuesday's meeting. "Dr. Francis-Maurer has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to the school and has acted as the ideal administrator. Not only (was) he an effective administrator, but also a genuine friend and advocate for students."
Jackie Freedman, a parent who said she has lived in Cherry Hill for 54 years, said Francis-Maurer was "adored and respected" by students and parents, while East math teacher Jeff Killion said Francis-Maurer "brought many positive attributes to the position."
Cherry Hill High School East sophomore Leah Molavi explains to the Board of Education how she thinks the involuntary departure of her school's assistant principal, David Francis-Maurer, will impact her and her classmates.
East sophomore Leah Molavi — among those who affectionately refer to Francis-Maurer as "DFM" — said she organized last week's walkout of about 900 students and started a change.org petition in support of Francis-Maurer. When a 70and73.com reporter checked the petition at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, it had collected about 694 signatures.
Molavi said her efforts were the "least that I could do to give back to DFM. He has found a way to touch everybody's hearts. It is beyond upsetting that a member of the Cherry Hill East community is being let go after only two years. …In the more than 40 events that I have attended in the past two years at East, he has been to almost every single one of them."
The only school board member who appeared to respond to the public comments about Francis-Maurer was Board President Gina Winters, who after Cherry Hill parent Rick Short suggested Francis-Maurer was let go to help pay for the district's preschool expansion, stated: “The preschool funding has nothing to do with funding for high schools.”
After public comments, Superintendent Kwame Morton said "We are not at liberty to discuss…personnel issues (or) any personnel-related matters."
He added that the school board is not directly involved with the renewal of staff or staff evaluations. An administrative process starts at the school level and then goes up to the superintendent's office, he said.
Preschool expansion update
Farrah Mahan, the district assistant superintendent for Pre K-12 and curriculum & instruction, said the district's recent preschool enrollment period yielded 578 applicants and that, to date, 325 children have been accepted. She said 70 other children were removed from the waiting list before the school board meeting and about 250 children are still on the list.
Although there are 501 seats in the preschool program for the 2025-26 school year, a 3-year-old already enrolled in the program would be guaranteed a spot as a 4-year-old.
"We had moved approximately 60 students total last year off the wait list, so we're certainly ahead of the game," Mahan said.
Restorative practices data
George Guy, the district director of elementary education, said restorative practices, which he stated are those that proactively use preventative measures to build upon positive school climates and actions, are this school year linked to:
- A 42% decline in behavioral infractions at High School East compared with the same period in the 2023-24 school year
- A collective 33% decline in behavioral infractions at Beck, Rosa International and Carusi middle schools
- A collective 18% decline in behavioral infractions at Barton and Kilmer elementary schools
"We (also) found that students involved in restorative conversations, restorative conferences and restorative circles tend to not commit the same behavioral infraction again," Guy said. "That's what we want. We do not want kids to be able to make the same mistake again. Now they will make other mistakes, and that's fine, but we don't want them to be able to make that mistake again.”
Board President Winters, who said she has a child attending East, said she is seeing "a sea change this year, and it's amazing to watch this work and what it can do for our kids."
