Cherry Hill Public Schools will open the school year on Sept. 8 on a fully remote schedule and will be instituting the district’s remote-only plan through Nov. 9.
In a letter to the school community published on Sept. 1, Superintendent Joseph Meloche, Board President Lisa Saidel and Board Vice-President Laurie Neary explained the reason for the delay citing concerns from staff as a driving factor.
“This past weekend, we received letters from Cherry Hill Education Association groups at all of our 19 schools,” the letter reads. “While the letters varied with requests specific to each building, there was overwhelming clarity in the primary message: Our staff’s request to delay the opening of the school year to allow for more preparation to teach in the hybrid model and to open on a remote-only schedule to allow for greater mitigation of their concerns regarding the COVID-19 virus.”
The letter also explains that the district is facing an “ever-increasing” list of leave of absence requests from staff, and they’re experiencing a shortage of available certificated substitutes.
To view the letter in its entirety, visit the district homepage at www.chclc.org.
