Board of education members reflected on Superintendent Dr. Joseph Meloche’s time and impact he has made on the district after serving more than 20 years at the recent Cherry Hill Public Schools Board of Education Meeting on June 13.
“I know we’ve seen him at every event at every school,” Board member Jen Fleisher said. “We can’t keep up with him on the board, he shows up at everything.”
Board member Corrien Elmore Stratton thanked Meloche for the strides he’s taken for the African American community in Cherry Hill over the past 20 years. The district made history in 2021 for being the first district in the state to require an African American Studies course as a graduation requirement.
“Thank you for your time and for having an eye on my community specifically and making us feel seen and heard,” she said. “ … I know that as an African American in this community, the strides you’ve made for us over the 20 years and how it’s gonna impact not only this set of students but students down the line, I truly appreciate it.”
After much sentiment, Bill Adams from Hazard, Young, Attea (HYA) and Associates gave a presentation introducing their organization, HYA’s team and what residents can expect for the superintendent search in the next few months.
Adams was a schools superintendent for the same district for 36 years, his wife Stacey is a certified business administrator and has worked on strategic planning and Caryn Shaw, an associate at HYA, is a former school board member and president and has worked with philanthropic groups.
“The first thing we have to do is listen and find out everything we can about the district and that’s done through stakeholder input,” Adams said. “That’s called the engagement phase.”
A planning meeting is scheduled for sometime in July. Adams noted the initial calendar and overview that HYA initially presented may change due to the outcome of the planning meeting.
The engagement phase is slated to take place for around a month from late September to mid-October. The team will hear from students, parents, and community members about what is important to them when it comes to finding a superintendent. In late October, the team will present the stakeholder comments and a leadership profile with the desired characteristics for the future superintendent. The information will be used for recruitment, which will take 30 to 45 days.
January to February 2024 will likely be the selection phase, where HYA Associates will present resumes of potential candidates to the board of education and work closely with them to develop questions and narrow it down to a second round of interviews. The target date for having a new superintendent is next spring.
“The most important part of that is community engagement, stakeholder engagement,” Adams said.
During the Business and Facilities Committee report, Board Vice President Joel Mayer gave an update for the different bond referendum projects that will be taking place this year and next, which included:
- Updating over 500,000 square feet of roofing this summer.
- Opening bids for stadium improvements (with work expected to begin Oct. 23).
- Playground upgrades at Paine and Harte elementary schools.
- All purpose room prototypes being developed.
- New flooring at lockers at Rosa Middle School for this summer.
- HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) work at the D-wing at West.
- Construction meetings for Lewis and Stockton elementary schools happening in June.
Due to construction work, board of education meetings will be relocated to Carusi Middle School’s Media Center.
There were a number of appointments made during the meeting, which included:
- Cherry Hill High School West Special Education Teacher Aaron Burt and English Teacher Carole Roskophe were reassigned as assistant principals for Cherry Hill West.
- Current Assistant Superintendent and former Principal of Cherry Hill West Dr. Kwame Morton was submitted to be approved as the acting superintendent for the district.
During public comments, a number of students spoke in defense of Cherry Hill West Track and Field Coach Shelly Hollingsworth after they were informed that she would not be coming back to coach earlier this month. Students cited Hollingsworth’s encouragement and her positive impact on the community.
Meloche responded to the students during his comments at the end of the meeting.
“I do want to encourage them (the students) to make sure that they have an open dialogue with Dr. Morton and Dr. Burns and have some ongoing discussions,” he said. “Any time there is discussion about staffing and positions, there are things that can’t always be shared in a timely manner or a manner in which people want that information.
“It’s important that there is clarity in the information that’s being shared.”
The next board of education meeting is on Tuesday, June 27.
