Effective at the end of the last calendar year, Dr. Lawyer H. Chapman brought down the curtain on a career spanning more than six decades in the field of education, the last quarter century in a variety of roles with Cherry Hill Public Schools.
During its Jan. 25 virtual public session, council members Carole Roskoph and William Carter read a proclamation issued in Chapman’s honor, celebrating his role in the lives of countless thousands of children who passed through the halls of the district’s 19 institutions.
“A champion for diversity and discrimination issues, Dr. Chapman was among the first African American principals in Cherry Hill, where he pushed for equity and helped form a minority achievement committee,” Carter read from the document.
“And whereas Dr. Chapman exemplifies a true leader, his dedication to education has earned him the admiration of parents, teachers, students and his kind and generous nature provided his students with a road map, by which they could live their lives. We wish to celebrate his contributions.”
Chapman spent the last four-and-a-half years of his tenure as principal of the district’s Alternative High School. Before that, he spent three years as assistant principal at Cherry Hill High School West, six years as principal of Paine International Baccalaureate School, nine years as district assistant superintendent and three years as principal of Cherry Hill High School East.
The native of Jackson, Mississippi, arrived in the township in 1995, following another “retirement,” this one from the Philadelphia school district, for whom he began working in 1958.
“Thank you kindly for this honor. I am most grateful and thankful for the last 62 years, with 25 of those in Cherry Hill,” Chapman said in a prepared statement. “I have worked with some of the most dedicated and competent educators on planet Earth. I have formed lifelong friendships. I am delighted that all 19 schools have earned the title of ‘state school of character,’ and 18 of the 19 schools as ‘national schools of character.’”
“It has been an honor and a privilege at being permitted to be a part of so many young lives and to be part of a great school district.”
To ensure its police department is able to secure an appropriate amount of funding, council later adopted a resolution to correct an earlier piece of legislation regarding the township’s participation in the state’s Safe and Secure Communities program.
The new resolution will ensure that a second existing Cherry Hill police officer will be accommodated by a grant for the program, where, due to budget cuts, Chief William “Bud” Monaghan originally applied for the grant to be applied to just one officer.
“This is to correct an error that we made. We historically applied for the grant, and it’s always been used to offset two salaries of existing police officers. And this year, our funding was cut in half,” Monaghan explained. “That’s the way we submitted it. And once we got word back from the state, they requested we make the correction.”
According to council Vice President Brian Bauerle, the funds matched by the township for those two officers, arrived in the amount of $180,625.23.
In other news:
- An additional proclamation was issued to honor Cherry Hill High School East students Armaan, Karina and Gia Gupta for winning the Congressional App Challenge for the First Congressional District. Their “Apollo” app seeks to connect young entrepreneurs on a single digital platform.
- In addition, council resolved some term limits for members of the township Recreation Commission: Danielle Carter will fill an unexpired term ending Dec. 31; Jeannie Purcell was appointed to a three-year term, effective Jan. 1, 2021 and through Dec. 31, 2023; and the duration of appointees Scott Mooney and Eugenie Pentimalli’s terms will be corrected to four and five years, respectively.
- While approving a spate of business licenses, council also denied an application for a masseuse business license to Asian Massage on Route 70. According to Monaghan, the reason for the denial was that undercover operations on the premises in the past revealed an arrest for solicitation.
- Council President David Fleisher was absent from the meeting.
