Cherry Hill school district staff barraged by threats, 'vile' email over inadvertent release of student names.

Administrators at the Cherry Hill school district have come under extreme fire from the public after inadvertently releasing the names of 174 students who opted out of a controversial Family Life curriculum.

District Superintendent Kwame Morton said at Tuesday evening's Board of Education meeting that members of the district staff have been subjected to "a tremendous amount of vile, vulgar, disgusting emails (and) posts as well (containing) racial epithets, threatening messages and things that truly have no place."

The release of names occurred as the district was fulfilling an Open Public Records Act request for statistics on the number of students who opted out of the curriculum, which is described on the district website for kindergarten through fifth grade. Topics include human sexual development and the role of hormones in romantic and sexual feelings, masturbation and mood swings, according to the district curriculum.

Superintendent Morton referenced a social media post that he said depicts his picture, a noose and the words "make tar and feather great again." He added that given the "tremendous amount of division" within the community, the post left his children concerned and also had him concerned about the district's children.

"I am asking everybody in our community to just be mindful of our role as role models," Morton said. "There is a need for civility…to work through the most challenging days and come to a great solution."

Board President Joel Mayer apologized to Morton and his family for the negative posts and emails and added that "we have to be better, and that starts here."

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70and73.com previous news coverage of the release:

• Cherry Hill school district admits to releasing names of students
• Cherry Hill schools may have disclosed far more student names

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Memorandum of understanding raises new questions

Resident Jeff Podowitz alleged at the meeting that the lessons, mentors and internships in cybersecurity that nonprofit Digital Promise will provide the district as part of a recently signed memorandum of understanding will generate student and teacher data that may not be kept confidential. In addition, Anne Einhorn, another community member, alleged the memorandum of understanding contained $25,000 in dues and questioned if the district was responsible for those dues.

Morton did not appear to respond to Podowitz's concerns. Regarding Einhorn's comments, Morton said there was no $25,000 "membership fee," but did say a $3,500 fee connected to the memorandum of understanding will be covered by a $5,000 grant Digital Promise awarded the district.

At the November 13 board meeting, members of the public expressed concerns about the lack of public discussion about the memorandum prior to the board's vote as well as the agreement's procedures and implementation costs. While the district did not appear to address the lack of public discussion, it did say the grant would cover procedures and implementation costs. 

Presentation on the State of the District

A new five-year district strategic plan is in development, Morton said during the portion of the meeting devoted to his State of the District presentation. This plan contains a section that will define the skills, qualities, attributes and characteristics that the community has said it wants its students to master by the time they graduate, Morton said.

During the presentation:

• Morton said the district will expand by 41 Pre-K classrooms — 16 in district schools, 25 at private providers — for the 2025-26 school year. After Board member Renee Cherfane asked what would happen if 16 new teachers could not be found "all at once." Farrah Mahan, assistant superintendent for Pre-K through 12th grade, said the district has "already started being proactive in the recruitment of more staff."
• Morton said about one-third of the district’s 2022 bond referendum totaling $363,911,100 has been committed to making roof repairs and replacements, adding to the all-purpose rooms at several elementary schools, constructing several new playgrounds and making improvements at others and replacing some HVAC systems.
• Morton said the next round of bond referendum-funded projects include installing temporary classroom units at Carusi Middle School to serve as class space during a large renovation project, adding and renovating parts of Rosa International Middle School, improving Cherry Hill School West stadium's accessibility and lighting and improving Beck Middle School's front entrance.