Cherry Hill West High School student Ben Hess discusses how reassigning one of his music teachers to a district elementary school will impact him.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation on Tuesday afternoon that means Cherry Hill public schools will receive 45 percent, or about $3.1 million, of the $6.9 million in state aid that was cut earlier this year, Superintendent Kwame Morton said during the school board meeting Tuesday evening.
"I am delighted," Morton said before the meeting. He said the decision means that the district's golf and bowling teams are saved. They were slated to be eliminated at the end of the school year because of the state aid cuts.
Board President Miriam Stern said decisions about restoring other items to the budget will be discussed at a later date.
The superintendent also thanked members of the public who contacted lawmakers or testified at state budget hearings to share their concerns about the state aid cuts.
The legislation allocates $71.4 million to create a Stabilized School Budget Aid Grant Program that will assist districts like Cherry Hill that lost significant funding.
Cherry Hill West Music Shakeup
Several Cherry Hill High School West students and parents, deeply concerned about the future of the school's choir program, asked the board to reconsider reassigning one of two music teachers to a district elementary school.
Some of these speakers identified the reassigned teacher as Blaze Dalio. Morton said the reassignment decision was based on declining enrollment in West's high school music programs,
"Any disruption will have long-term consequences," student Ben Hess said. “Slashing the choir program this way will remove one of the last ways West students distinguish themselves in extracurriculars, further driving this deep inequity… between East and West High Schools."
Other students and alumni spoke of how Dalio has helped prepare them for various school productions and their post-high school lives.
Added Lisa Madison, a parent: "The numbers were down for the Junior Air Force ROTC pretty severely, but we managed to save that program. You were ready to get rid of golf and bowling… sports are always saved before the arts are saved."
State Testing Standards Preview
Board member Gina Winters said the state’s 2023 updated standards in ELA and math will be implemented at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
She said the bulk of the updates include establishing spelling skills, utilizing grammar, syntax, and punctuation, strengthening handwriting, reinforcing awareness of segments of sounds in speech, and creating reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension in kindergarten through fifth grades.
"I do not think we are going to snap our fingers and see instant results here," Winters said. "We are going to have to hang with it a little bit, evaluate our processes and how they look, and maybe tweak them going forward."
Board Honors Employees
The board also recognized 130 employees for reaching 20, 25, 30 or 35 years of service to the district between July 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024. These employees have "an amazing total" of 3,150 years of service to the district, according to Morton.
"We thank you all for your dedication to our kids and our district," Stern said. "That is a lot of years and we are grateful for all that you do."
They were:
35 Years
- Mary Bellino
- Bette Brown
- Sunita Ojha
- Linda Patterson
- Donna Steelman
30 Years
- Elizabeth Alcamo
- Christopher Bova
- Christina Boyle
- Mary D’Alessandro
- Maureen Divietro
- Derek Field
- Carolyn Grossi
- Marilyn Hyman
- Allyson Little
- Patricia Roberto
- Christina Robertson
- Dawn Slaton
- Carol Solano
25 Years
- Despina Athineos
- Ana Berrios
- Sarah Boone
- John Cafagna
- Cheryl Calabrese
- Bernadette Calnon-Buote
- Barbara Caruso
- Janet Cohen
- Debra Connolly
- Elise Lyn Croce
- Caryn Cutler
- Richard D’Alessandro
- Marianne Daily
- Jeffrey Davis
- Christopher Delrossi
- Susan Dollarton
- Cecilia Eilola
- Lori Ferranto
- Trudi Figueroa
- Kimberly Gatelein
- Amy Graves
- Carmela Griffo
- Ginamarie Haney
- Jennifer Heller
- Christina Hughes
- Lisa Jackson
- Debi Kardon-Duff
- Jeffrey Killion
- Denise Klifto
- Paul Koester
- Bruce Krohn
- Barbara Kuzan
- Lisa Lebenstein-Lipman
- Janna Loshikian
- Megan Manns
- Susan Mark
- Deborah McClure
- Kenneth McCall
- Melissa McNab
- Regina Melchiorre
- Arezou Montgomery
- Caren Morgan
- Donna Morocco
- John Murtha
- Dorothy Nicoletto
- Cynthia Nieves
- Saundra O'Donnell
- Gina Oh
- Nicole Overbey
- Theresa Paparo
- Anita Plum
- Antoinette Princiotta
- Kathleen Ricchezza
- Harriet Rickansrud
- Daniel Rogers
- Kathryn Santoro
- Andrea Savidge
- Danielle Scibilia
- William Segrest
- Michelle Smith
- Joanna Stabile
- June Stagliano
- Amanda Stueven
- Deborah Tackett
- James Thompson
- Kelly Toscano
- Jill Turley
- Jennifer Urban
- Deborah Wasson
20 Years
- Judithann Albuquerque
- Rilana Alvarez
- Amanda Baker
- Meredith Callahan
- Stephanie Coolahan
- Mollie Crincoli
- Hilary Daniels
- Richard Friedman
- Ashley Gowen
- Jennifer Greenwald
- Jamie Grenier
- Sarah Guy
- Ruth Hall
- David Helgeson
- Faith Holmgren
- Andreanna Katsikis
- Jaime Kleiner
- Patricia Kovacs
- Michael Mancinelli
- Paul McNally
- Sheryl Mosko
- Kristina Murphy
- Kimberly Pennock
- Doreen Peterson
- Natalie Petroski
- Danielle Newbill
- Kristen Phillips
- Donna Pistone
- Marc Plevinsky
- Steven Redfearn
- James Riordan
- Mary Saverino
- William Semus
- Maureen Smith
- Stephanie Stahl
- Jean Suity
- Dana Tete
- Colleen Thompson
- Sara Valli
- Stephanie Weiss
- Constance Wilson
- Wendy Wong
- Jennifer Woolston
