Cherry Hill Board of Education Candidate Forum
September 2021
Substantial energy in school board races across the country has become quite apparent this fall and Cherry Hill is no exception. Cherry Hill has 7 candidates on the ballot vying for 3 slots in the upcoming November election. Critical Race Theory, masking and Covid vaccination are all national issues that have filtered down to the local level. Cherry Hill’s perennial issue of maintaining 20 buildings with less than promised state dollars continues to be a hot topic, added to that the upcoming school bond of perhaps $200-$300 million that the BOE will present to voters in the next year. Other hot topics at the forum were Cherry Hill Board of Ed’s recent addition of a required African American history course at the high school level and the East/West divide, does it really exist?
In puzzling but dare I say Machiavellian wisdom, the NJ state legislature and Governor Murphy decided in 2018 that school board candidates could run with a short, non-political slogan and could file joint petitions to share the same slogan. With that, we have a range of chosen slogans and 2 candidates who have chosen the more traditional method of running without a slogan. The most remarkable of this year’s slogans is: Unmask our children. This slogan apparently was deemed non-political by the Camden County clerk and so candidate Nick Gaudio, with the prime #2 spot on the ballot, is clearly running as an anti-masker. Is this slogan non-political in 2021? We also have 3 candidates who have bracketed together; incumbent Sally Tong is running with John Papeika and Carolina Bevad; running on Responsible, Invested, Bold. Candidate Ben Rood has chosen to run on Transparency, Integrity, Progress. And traditionalists, running without slogans, candidates; Jennifer Fleisher and Ilana Yares.
Last Sunday’s candidate forumBoE Candidate Forum 2021sponsored by Zone PTA for Cherry Hill Schools and moderated by the League of Women Voters of Atlantic County, 6 of the 7 candidates attended, incumbent candidate Sally Tong did not attend and submitted a letter stating her commitment to better and modernized schools. Questions for the candidates were submitted by community members. All of the candidates are parents of children in the district.
In order of ballot position, which in a fairer democracy ballots would be presented in random order so as to not give advantage to candidates in the top ballot positions What-does-a-good-ballot-look-like_-take-2–1.mp4
First up is Jennifer Fleisher, long time PTA member and Fair Funding organizer. She will be sharing the more political side of the ballot with her husband, David Fleisher, 25 year member of Cherry Hill Town Council and current Vice President of Town Council. Ms. Fleisher expressed her desire for quality, inclusive, in-person education. More than once, candidate Fleisher emphasized that improving our schools will maintain and improve our property values. Are we in the business of helping kids and schools or are we about making sure we get top value for our property? Where does that leave families who rent in Cherry Hill? Nick Gaudio, graduate of Cherry Hill schools, expressed his dismay over last year’s virtual and hybrid school and repeatedly claimed that the BOE and superintendent failed our children. John Papeika, food safety manager, wants to be on the BOE in order to challenge the status quo and to go against the flow. Carolina Bevad, a certified teacher, wants to uphold academic excellence, hold people accountable and provide financial oversight. Ilana Yares, a PTA president who successfully distributed 1 million meals during the first year of the pandemic, upheld the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, saying she is the right choice for successful education. And finally Ben Rood, educator and scientist, is running at the request of his highschool aged son, wants to be the voice of the students and will make the mental health of students and staff a priority if elected. Most of the candidates have websites and/or Facebook pages for additional information.
Is there a East/West divide? The question to the candidates was framed as an opportunity gap. None of the candidates asked what exactly an opportunity gap is. Is this based on standardized test scores? Class size? Economics? Housing? Student Mobility? Race? No discussion took place about the largest elementary schools on the West side. Several candidates expressed surprise that there is talk of an East/West divide. Candidates focused on the two high schools with no discussion about the differences for our youngest students where early learning is crucial and which of course forms the foundation for middle and high school. John Papeika says the mindset comes from the parents and that we should encourage unity. Ilana Yares says she sees the disparity and discussed classes being offered equally at the two high schools. Carolina Bevad doesn’t believe the BOE can solve this problem and puts the onus on the administration to come up with a proposal. Jen Fleisher says there is a historical gap between E&W and hardwork and creativity will address the gap. Ben Rood is surprised by this culture but did say that factors that create the disparity should be investigated and to move resources to populations that are in need. Nick Gaudio believes that keeping Rosa MS as a lottery school will foster friendships between E&W. As Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have come to the forefront in Cherry Hill, and where most (but not all, so please watch the forum video) of the candidates praised the new required African American high school history class, this writer encourages all of these BOE candidates to really dig into this East/West divide, to ask better questions, ask teachers and parents and find solutions that will really make education equal on both sides of the I-295 divide.
The election is Tuesday, November 2, 2021 with many options for early voting, vote by mail and in-person voting. Best of luck to the candidates and extending good wishes to our educators and students for a successful, healthy school year.
