Much has changed in the Cherry Hill School District over the past decade.
Technology, the Internet and social media have vastly changed the world students live in.
In Cherry Hill and across the state, taxpayers have been charged with funding more of their school budgets, as state aid percentages have decreased. School buildings are showing their age.
Community demographics are shifting and the district is becoming more diverse.
Superintendent Maureen Reusche hosted the first of several community meetings last week at Cherry Hill High School West to invite parents from the community to voice their concerns and offer insight into how they see the district moving forward.
The last time the district looked at and established a long-range plan was in 1998, Reusche said at the meeting.
She said she hopes the meetings will allow her to learn more about the community, look at how the schools have changed over time and find out what is important to parents in the district.
Reusche has also been meeting with seniors in the community, members of the Chamber of Commerce, African-American civic association leaders, former and current educators, as well as students currently enrolled in the district.
Reusche said she will take the comments and concerns from each of these groups and relay them to the board of education.
Reusche outlined the goals from 1998 and compared them to the board’s current goals, noting the biggest change the district has faced over the years is how to appropriately utilize its funding.
In 1998, she said, 11 percent of the $94 million budget was funded by state aid; local taxpayers funded 85 percent.
For the 2011–12 school year, Reusche said, 6.8 percent of the $167 million budget was funded by state aid and 87.7 percent was funded through local taxpayers.
In 1998, the district had more money to work with, Reusche said. But in 2011, things are different.
“Today, we’re looking at minimizing the impact on the local taxpayer,” Reusche said.
From 1998 to 2011, the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunches increased 8 percent to account for 17 percent of the student population in 2011.
“The percentage is growing each year, and it’s not just a result of the economic downfall,” Reusche said.
Reusche said the district’s schools continue to make adequate yearly progress benchmarks under the national No Child Left Behind Act.
The number of students eligible for special-education services has also increased across the district from 9 percent to 19 percent over the 13-year period.
Current board goals include continuing to improve student achievement, achieving an increased level of consistency across all schools and continuing an action plan to improve and maintain buildings.
A few residents expressed displeasure in the conditions of the school buildings, citing that even students themselves are embarrassed.
The oldest building in the district is 56 years old and the newest building is 41 years old.
Reusche said this was not news to her, since students relayed their thoughts on the conditions of their schools to her when she met with them recently.
Parents at the meeting also expressed concern about the level of attention and instruction students are receiving across the district’s 19 schools.
Dotty Andalora decided to attend last week’s meeting after hearing a pre-recorded message from Reusche on her answering machine. Andalora currently has two students in the district and said she worries about students who are not in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program or receiving special education services.
“Kids in the middle are lost. They struggle and need a lot of teacher support,” Andalora said.
Andalora said she realizes teachers are doing the best they can, but still hopes to see all students in the district achieving. Reusche said student achievement is one of the district’s top priorities this year.
Several parents at the meeting also had questions about the Regis Academy Charter School coming to Cherry Hill next fall.
Regis Academy, which was founded by Pastor Amir Khan of Solid Rock Worship Center, was just one of four new charter schools in the state to receive approval from the state Department of Education late last month.
The newly granted charter will allow Regis Academy to operate out of the former Holy Rosary School building at 124 W. Evesham Road.
The regional charter school, although based in Cherry Hill, will serve students from the township, along with students from Voorhees, Somerdale and Lawnside.
Reusche explained the way the charter school will be funded, with approximately $1.9 million of the school district’s budget going to Regis Academy.
The state Department of Education is estimating 169 Cherry Hill students will attend the school next fall, Reusche said.
She said the district expects to receive an invoice on July 1, to pay for the estimated 169 students attending the charter school.
But if the number of students attending Regis Academy is less than 169, the enrollment will not be reconciled until next October.
“At that point, the damage is already done to the budget,” Reusche said. “I believe the process is flawed. Not the school, but the process.”
Residents encouraged each other at the meeting to talk to their neighbors and friends to make everyone aware of the charter school’s imminent arrival.
Reusche also held a second meeting last Wednesday morning at the Katz JCC on Springdale Road.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in Cherry Hill East’s Little Theater.
A fourth and final meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 1:30 p.m. in the Community Center, 820 Mercer St.
