Four candidates have been interviewed to fill the vacant seat of retired Cherry Hll board of education member Jenn Fleisher.
Lee Plenn, Diana Frank, Nacovin Norman and Quadsia Niaz offered brief background information before answering questions at the board’s Jan. 23 meeting. They were asked to comment on a recent board decision and how they would have decided it differently, and all of them agreed the district’s expanded pre-K rollout could have gone more smoothly with better community engagement.
Plenn is a longtime resident of Cherry Hill and an educator and advocate for people with disabilities. He attended four of the district’s elementary schools and has prior experience on the Merchantville school board. He acknowledged that he has ADHD and experience serving students with the disability.
Plenn said he wants the board to have real conversations – even among those who hold opposite opinions – and would like to see equity in the education students receive at each district school.
“I am from the East side, but I want to see consistency across the board,” he said. “I want to see students in Carusi getting the same education that those are getting in Beck.”
Niaz has ties to the Cherry Hill community and is a graduate of Carusi Middle School and Cherry Hil West. A former School Aged Child Care (SACC) teacher in the district, she is a member of the Muslim community and a recruiter for the federal government. Niaz has a master’s in public administration and works with an organization that provides resources for individuals with disabilities.
In response to a question about restorative versus disciplinary practices for students with behavioral challenges, Niaz called for working together.
“Students don’t want to be bad …” she noted. “They’re actually sometimes a cry for help, and (we should) really look into that and work together with the teachers and other staff members and parents to help find a solution for them.”
Frank is a literacy, dyslexia and reading coach for all grades, as well as a parent and educator interested in literacy and multi-tiered systems of student support and equal education. She explained how she would show leadership.
“I think it’s important for me at work and for me here as well to work collaboratively with everyone, that everyone has a voice and that everyone listens and everyone has respect of that,” Frank related.
“I think we all come with different experiences and it’s important to share that, and every one of us here can bring something else to the table.”
Norman is a child study team psychologist and the first in his family to graduate from high school and college. He acknowledged the deep and lasting impact he believes quality education can have on a community.
“What we do in education does not only affect that individual student,” he stated, “but it affects generations. It affects communities.”
Norman also noted that part of his job is to facilitate conversations and talk to people, and emphasized that it’s important to have tough conversations in the community.
The full board meeting is viewable at the school district’s YouTube channel. A decision on who will fill the board seat had yet to be made at press time.
