The Voorhees Township Board of Education passed its proposed 2019-2020 budget earlier this month at its public hearing. The general fund tax levy for the upcoming year passed at $47,036,232.
The increase in the tax rate is .0259 cents, bringing the new tax rate to 1.4747 cents per $100,000 of assessed value. For a home in Voorhees Township assessed at the average value of $258,959, the increase for residents is expected to be approximately $67.
According to Business Administrator Helen Haley, the budget is relatively flat, with the general budget only increasing by .94 percent, enabling the district to continue all current programs.
However, the budget does allow the district to purchase more iPads to continue its iPad implantation for students.
At the meeting, the board also announced it has named the next superintendent as David Gentile, after the Camden County executive superintendent approved paperwork before the meeting.
According to an addendum on the agenda, Gentile’s contract is from July 1 to June 30, of 2022.
Gentile is in the midst of his ninth year as superintendent with Millville Public Schools, a pre-K to 12 school district. Previously, Gentile had served as superintendent in Mount Holly for two and a half years and as a principal at a Runnemede middle school for seven years.
Having grown up and gone to school in Millville, Gentile says he has enjoyed being able to both teach and oversee administration in his hometown over the years, and that if he were to ever leave, it would be for somewhere that he felt was special.
“I certainly feel like Voorhees is one of those districts, obviously, because it appealed to me,” Gentile said. “I’m happy that the board selected me.”
In a phone interview with The Sun following the meeting, Gentile said he is eager to get to work in Voorhees due to special nature of the community and its values.
“First and foremost, the type of community that Voorhees is in that the parents are very involved in a very proactive way and that they want and value education, that was one of the key ingredients that I was looking for,” Gentile said.
He also said the size of the district was something that appealed to him.
“The other big appeal for me was the size of the district,” Gentile said. “I had really fallen in love with that K-8 model … the fact that I can get my hands around it and get involved with the teachers and the learning process is what really appealed to me.”
While Millville Public Schools has approximately 6,000 students, 1,200 employees and 12 buildings, Gentile said it was sometimes difficult to get involved with the learning process and interact with teachers and/or students on a more personal level, although he still enjoyed his time in his hometown.
Moving forward, he looks forward to being able to be more hands-on and interactive.
“For me, this is going to be an opportunity to get back to what I love, and that’s trying to make learning fun, make it challenging and really make teachers challenge kids and do something special with the education,” Gentile said.
Although Voorhees Township Public Schools is K-8, Gentile says he looks forward to being able to partner with Eastern Regional and making sure students are prepared for the challenges of high school upon leaving Voorhees Middle School, since he has previous experience with high school education.
“Because I do know high school education from my nine years with Millville, I’ll be able to partner with Eastern and make sure that Voorhees kids are entering high school with everything that they need to be successful,” Gentile said.
Also at the meeting, the board recognized School Resource Officer John Daddario with the Voorhees Township Police Department thanks to his dedication as the Law Enforcement Against Drugs Officer of the Month.
