They came out in force to oppose a planned charter school at a recent Voorhees Board of Education Meeting.
Voorhees has followed suit with Cherry Hill in appealing the decision to allow another charter school to be located in the area.
Regis Academy would be located in Cherry Hill and receive students from Somerdale, Lawnside, Cherry Hill, and Voorhees. If approved, it will cost Voorhees $727,000 a year.
The $727,000 makes up 89 percent of the school district’s cap space. The budget can only be increased by no more than 2 percent every year.
Irene Afek, coordinator of elementary programs in Voorhees, said there is a bill in the state senate that would allow for local communities to either agree or disagree with the establishment of a charter school. As it stands right now municipalities have no say and the decision to create a charter school rests with the state.
Cindy Kahn has five in children in the Voorhees school system.
“I think it’s an atrocity,” Kahn said, noting Voorhees public schools already have diversity.
She said the charter school is “absolutely not” needed, especially when it targets one particular religion or ethnic group.
“It is excluding the general population,” Kahn added. “It is a disservice to put anybody in an area where it’s just one-sided.”
She said that, among Voorhees, Cherry Hill, and Somerdale, all students’ needs must already be met.
Kahn said the problem may not be with the schools but with parent participation in their children’s lives.
“You can’t just rely on a school to educate your children and farm them out on somebody else,” she said. “You have to stand up and be a parent.
“You cannot say it’s because we’re black and they’re different than we are,” Kahn continued. “And if it’s a problem with a certain minority then that minority needs to take a really good look at themselves and figure out what they’re doing different that they’re falling behind the other parents.”
Melissa Sable, who has two children in the Voorhees system, said the high schools in the area have a 95 percent rate of kids going to college and that such a high-performing district doesn’t need a charter school.
Sable said the charter school will take away programs and create bigger class sizes.
The Voorhees Parental Advocacy Group has a page on Facebook to share information about the charter school situation in Voorhees.
Osage Elementary School fifth graders Catherine Stagliano, Ashley Pieprafitca, and Katelyn Shinkle made a presentation at the meeting showing how the charter school would affect the Voorhees district.
“It’s not very good for our schools because a lot of our programs will be cut and it will make our schools not as great as they are now,” Stagliano said.
“There’s nothing wrong with them right now so if it’s not broken why fix it?” Pieprafitca said.
“It’s saddening to see that we don’t have a say in what’s going to be cut,” Shinkle said.
The presentation consisted of pictures of students doing activities, letters, quotes, and a chart from a Stanford University study showing charter schools typically score at the same level or below of public schools.
Voorhees Township Committee Member Joe Lovallo said that, while charter schools have their place in other areas, one is note needed in Voorhees.
“Voorhees Township is definitely not the place for a charter school,” he said, noting he has found one of the main reasons people move to Voorhees is the schools.
Afek said the turnout at the meeting was a good sign.
“I think it shows that the community is pretty monolithic in their response and there’s a sense of unity that this is a great school district,” Afek said, noting the support is “very overwhelming and gratifying.”
She said the effort is not a sprint but a marathon and that the board has been very active and very involved.
“I think they are really united behind this,” Afek said.
Voorhees School Board Attorney Howard Mendelson said he has no idea when the decision on the appeal will be rendered.
“We’re at the very, very beginning stages,” he said.
