The Cherry Hill school board on Tuesday approved sending the district's Comprehensive Equity Plan and an accompanying Statement of Assurance for the years 2025-28 to Camden County’s executive superintendent.
The plan is a list of current district policies that align with state statutes and codes concerning education equity across various demographic groups, including racial category, sexual orientation and identification.
Superintendent Kwame Morton said the Camden County Executive Superintendent should have received a copy of the board's approved plan by the last county district board meeting on June 24. However, "we didn't have a motion or motions in order to move the plan forward," Morton said. The New Jersey Department of Education requires the plan.
Board members voted 5-0 in favor of the plan, with three members abstaining.
Member Kim Gallagher, who, along with members Renee Cherfane and Dean Drizin, cast abstention votes at the Tuesday meeting, said the board had received a copy of the plan only earlier Tuesday.
"I trust that we're being equitable with the way that we deliver education in the district. That is not a concern of mine," Gallagher said "I just need to have an adequate amount of time to review the things that I'm voting on."
Residents question school board's responsiveness
Several residents expressed frustration with the board's public comment process at the meeting.
"I have questions from last December that have yet to be answered," said resident Anne Einhorn. "I asked a question in May, I believe, about how many minutes of Spanish instruction do our students receive. It was never answered… and for God's sakes, people, that should have been an easy one to be answered and it was not."
Josh Resnick, a senior at Cherry Hill High School East, said community members who speak during public comment are "met with blank stares, procedural nods and no dialog of any meaning" from the school board and those actions "send a clear message to students and parents alike (that) our voices don't matter."
In direct response to Resnick's comments, board President Gina Winters said that at school board meetings public comment is "not a dialog back and forth" and that a nonresponse "does not indicate that we're not listening, that we don't understand, that we're not up here taking notes and that the concerns are not addressed." Winters also said that any email she receives will receive a response.
At a different point in the meeting, other board members pledged to find ways to address communication gaps.
Comments from members indicated these future strategies could include a board member asking the superintendent if a community member's question asked during public comment can be addressed, or may include board members answering common public questions during the board meetings' correspondence section.
Other news
- The board accepted the resignation of Henry C. Beck Middle School Principal Rebecca Metzger. Previous board minutes indicate the district hired Metger in March 2022.
- The board accepted reassigning Jared Peltzman from James Johnson Elementary School principal to District Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction.Â
- Winters announced that prior to the meeting, the decision was made to postpone the scheduled vote on the district’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan so the board can have more time to review the plan. A draft of the plan is available here.
