The board discussed the possibility of having a member attend Fair Funding for Cherry Hill Public Schools to gather information on the group’s efforts.
The Cherry Hill Board of Education could have more of a presence at Fair Funding for Cherry Hill Public Schools’ future meetings.
Board President Eric Goodwin said he received a request from the group to have a board member attend its meetings. The board held a discussion about the request at last Tuesday’s BOE work session.
At the start of the discussion, board solicitor Paul Green discussed how a board member attending the Fair Funding meetings would not be able to act as a spokesperson for the board due to the board’s code of ethics.
“Board members do not have individual authority,” Green said. “The board as a whole only has authority when it meets together. So you have to be very careful that any representative that attends cannot act as a spokesperson for the board.”
“A representative could attend to bring information back to the board to act as sort of an emissary,” Green continued. “But it would pretty much have to be a one-way communication.”
Goodwin explained this limitation made the board hesitant to having a representative with the Fair Funding group in the past. However, all eight board members in attendance at last week’s meeting felt having someone attend the Fair Funding meetings and report back to the board would be valuable.
“I see this as very similar to when we rotate through and sit in at our Zone PTA meetings,” board Vice President Lisa Saidel said. “We sit as an observer. Occasionally, we answer a question that has already been discussed in public or was already voted on, information that has already been agreed upon by the whole board. But for the most part, we’re an observer.”
“I would see this set up similar to that and would be in support of that,” Saidel added.
After the discussion, Goodwin said the board would “definitely” look to have representatives attend future Fair Funding meetings and added he would invite the Fair Funding group to possibly present periodically at future BOE meetings as well.
Board members comment on recent community forums
With two of the board of education’s bond referendum community forums completed, members discussed their thoughts and observations on what has transpired.
The board hosted community forums on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9 to gather feedback on its failed bond referendum in December and how the district should move further. Six board members were in attendance at each of the two forums.
Several board members talked of how they heard numerous residents say they wanted to see a long-term plan from the district regarding facilities.
“There was a lot of good discussion at the end,” board member David Rossi said. “Everyone was able to provide feedback. A lot of big picture discussions as well, a lot of broad and long-range is what I kept hearing at one of them.”
Other board members were happy to see a wide variety of different residents at the forum. Saidel mentioned there were people the district hadn’t previously heard much from, such as residents without children in the district or senior citizens whose children previously attended school in Cherry Hill.
“We had a good representation of the community at the meetings,” Saidel said. “We had some demographics that we typically have difficulty getting feedback from.”
The district has three community forums remaining. They are scheduled for 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 Sunday, March 10, at 1 p.m. at Rosa International Middle School.
District to host information sessions on full-day kindergarten
Cherry Hill Public Schools is hosting several information sessions this month as it prepares for its first year of full-day kindergarten in 2019–20. Information sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 a.m. at the Malberg Administration Building, Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Katz JCC, Monday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church and Wednesday. Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at Malberg. More information on the full-day kindergarten program is available at www.chclc.org.
