Discussions about a long-range plan, concerns of the long-term viability of school buildings were key parts of the school district’s first public forum.
Cherry Hill schools officials are passing the ball to the community as the school district moves forward following the rejection of its bond referendum in December.
Last Thursday night, the Cherry Hill Board of Education hosted the first of five open public forums at Cherry Hill High School East. The purpose of the forums is to gather community input regarding a future bond referendum.
Judith Wilson, an independent education consultant and former school administrator, is serving as the moderator for all five forums. She spoke to the participants last Thursday about how the forums were designed to be a community-driven effort.
“Your school board has made a very specific decision…a decision to model what we want all our students to do: to be reflective, to accept constructive ideas and criticism in what’s there for the greater good,” Wilson said. “When you come out in the evening to the school cafeteria, you are clearly someone who is here to think about the future and the greater good.”
The forum was broken into several segments. In the first 15 minutes, Wilson gave an introduction to six questions the public was asked to answer. The next 45 minutes saw the participants separate into small groups where they would tackle each of the questions, one at a time. The final 15 minutes brought all of the participants back together in one large group and the floor was opened for people to react to the questions and give their recommendations to the board.
The six questions community members were challenged to answer revolved around different aspects of the failed December bond referendum and how the district could improve upon these aspects moving ahead. The questions included an assessment of facility needs, whether a referendum should be a single or multiple questions, the district’s efforts on getting voter turnout, a look at why voters chose to reject a tax-neutral question in the last referendum, how effective the district’s last communication plan was and what role social media information not sponsored by the district played in the last vote.
Participants were also asked to name what factors led people to vote “yes” and what factors led people to vote “no” and were encouraged to give any recommendations on the topic.
The meeting was advertised and treated as a regular board of education meeting as six of the board’s nine members were in attendance. However, the board members, as well as school administrators, in attendance did not participate in the general discussion or small groups. The board members instead spent the entire meeting listening and taking notes.
After the small group discussions, numerous community members gave their thoughts on the various questions and offered numerous opinions. One topic numerous residents touched on was the district’s need to have a decades-long facilities plan. Several residents described the upgrades proposed in the last referendum as a “Band-Aid” on the larger problems with the buildings. Some residents suggested the district draw up a long-range plan and present it to the public prior to moving forward with another referendum.
“The district needs a longer-term plan,” resident Rick Short said. “There’s no future plan with the bond. If you don’t have a future plan 10, 20, 30 years above, then I don’t think the community is going to get behind it.”
Another concern stated by residents revolved around health concerns. Resident Jared Pasternak, a pediatrician, felt the district needs to be more vigilant in showcasing the dire need some of the buildings are in to get a greater response not just from voters, but also from state legislators to try and secure more funding for the district.
“The lead, the asbestos and just the general environments and hazards in the schools need to be brought out in a much larger effort,” Pasternak said.
Wilson said the district is compiling all of the information it receives from each of the forums to help guide future decision-making. School officials have not yet committed to any specific details regarding a future referendum.
Four more community forums are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. at Carusi Middle School; Thursday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. at Johnson Elementary School; Monday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at Cherry Hill High School West and Saturday, March 10, at 1 p.m. at Rosa International Middle School. To RSVP for any of the forums, email [email protected].
