Charter spurs discussion in Cherry Hill
In an effort to dispel rumors circulating about the charter school slated to set up shop next fall on the grounds of the Solid Rock Worship Center in Cherry Hill, Pastor Amir Khan called a meeting last week to keep residents in the know about the impending arrival of the Regis Academy Charter School.
Last month, the Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Lawnside and Somerdale school districts learned that the school received state Department of Education approval to open its doors next fall to students in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The problem, school administrators from both Cherry Hill and Voorhees have said, is not the charter school itself. It’s about the districts’ requirements to fund the public charter school and the implications that additional funding will have on the public school budgets.
Cherry Hill School District officials say they are concerned about setting aside a projected $1.9 million from next year’s budget to support the publicly funded charter school.
Voorhees school district administrators said the charter school will cost the district $727,000 a year.
According to preliminary estimates based on projected enrollments at Regis Academy, the DOE also estimates a contribution of $62,565 from Lawnside schools and $108,063 from Somerdale schools.
The Cherry Hill Board of Education solicitor, on behalf of the four districts involved, filed an appeal of the charter school on Oct. 28 said Susan Bastnagel, the district’s public information officer.
In a release sent out by Khan early last week, the press conference style meeting was organized because Regis Academy’s approval has been slandered, accused and lied about, he said. In the release, he also stated that both the Cherry Hill and Voorhees school districts have discouraged parents from enrolling their children at the charter school.
The agenda of last week’s meeting at Solid Rock was clear. Charter schools give parents and students educational options, and that was the message Khan maintained throughout the meeting.
“The original intent and purpose of charter schools was all about innovation and school choice,” Khan said.
The meeting, which was well-attended by residents, congregants, advocates and opponents, also featured testimony from a handful of speakers, including parents from Cherry Hill and Voorhees, the president of the NJ Charter School Association, pastors, community activists and charter school supporters.
“These districts don’t realize that the money doesn’t belong to them. It belongs to the taxpayers,” said Voorhees parent Tracye McArdle, whose two children attended and graduated from the public school system. “Maybe parents just want a choice. That’s what charter schools do and that’s why I support them.”
Barbara Zhang, a Cherry Hill parent of three and former principal of the non-profit Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School, said she will likely send two of her children, a current first-grader at Sharp Elementary and preschooler at Barclay, to Regis Academy next fall.
Zhang, who also unsuccessfully ran for a school board position earlier this year, said she would like to see more diversity and innovation in Cherry Hill’s schools.
“Today’s Cherry Hill students are tomorrow’s world leaders,” Zhang said. “Cherry Hill needs more ideas to moved forward and charter schools is one. Dictatorship in education does not bring success.”
Carlos Perez, CEO and president of the New Jersey Charter School Association was on hand to explain the role of charter schools in the state. Perez said currently, there are 80 charter schools in the state that serve about 27,000 students.
Perez referred to Princeton as an example where even though the public schools are succeeding, he said, students enrolled at the charter school there are outperforming public school students. Perez pointed to a few slides with graphs showing charter school students significantly achieving higher grades than their public school counterparts.
But some members of the public were skeptical about the figures presented. At the end of the meeting-turned-town hall gathering, Khan opened the floor to the public for questions.
Debbie Silverstone, a Cherry Hill mom of three, asked if the statistics presented favoring the Princeton charter school accounted for the special needs population.
“I don’t believe those numbers are skewed,” Perez answered.
A few residents that have previously spoken out against the Solid Rock Worship Center earlier this year and the charter school issue asked Khan about taxes and the charter-approval process.
Alan Ehrlich, a Cherry Hill resident who said he supports charter schools in areas where there is a need, warned attendees about the implications the charter school will have on the school district’s budget.
“The (Cherry Hill) school budget this year was destroyed. Teachers will have to be laid off and programs cut,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich also criticized the speakers who were fielding questions. Ehrlich was commenting on the charter school, when members of the audience began to shout, “ask your question.”
“You’re not letting the residents speak,” Ehrlich responded. “Residents should get to vote on the charter school. You’re not being democratic about it.”
Other residents spoke out about the possibility of increased taxes due to the charter school’s arrival.
“I assure you that is the politics of fear,” said Keith Benson, president of Save our Children, who spoke in favor of charter schools and also moderated the event.
Residents also wanted answers about Khan’s private school, Child of Promise, which is located on the premise at 99 Burnt Mill Rd. Khan said next fall, the private school portion will close, but the daycare will remain open.
Khan said Regis Academy would be open first to students residing in Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Lawnside and Somerdale. Then, he said, if the school is not populated, the school may be open to others.
Residents said they were concerned if students from Child of Promise would simply “transfer” to Regis Academy.
“The schools are not merging. Parents there don’t have first choice,” Khan said.
Khan also spoke about the appeal recently filled on behalf of the involved school districts and said he thought the Cherry Hill and Voorhees school districts were concerned with diversity in Regis Academy.
“One of our goals for our school is diversity. The department of education was impressed by the diversity of our board. Our goal is to bring school districts together,” Khan said.
Khan said he is not angry with the school districts, but said he hopes they will see the good Regis Academy has to offer the community.
“We don’t want to look at them as the enemy, we’re in this together,” Khan said. “Today, we have to do something different. We should never feel that we’ve arrived.”
Mayor Bernie Platt continues to speak out against the charter school. In a statement he issued after the meeting, he said Cherry Hill property taxes should support Cherry Hill’s public schools, not Khan’s school.
“This charter school designation is spawned from a flawed system and I want to see a full accounting and justification of the state Department of Education approval for a group that has had well publicized issues in our community from housing a known criminal that burglarized the surrounding neighborhood to possible eviction from their site by the Camden Diocese,” Platt said.
