Election 2022: Cherry Hill School Board Candidate Kim Gallagher

CHERRY HILL, NJ — In the 2022 general election, residents of South Jersey will be voting for state and local officials. Patch has asked candidates in contested races to answer profiles about their campaigns.

Here is the candidate profile of Kimberly Gallagher, running for the Cherry Hill Board of Education.

Note that some voting locations have changed for the special election on October 6 in Cherry Hill.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and Nov. 8 general election. Local candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact Michelle.Rotuno-Johnson@patch.com.

Name: Kimberly Gallagher

Age: 39

Town of residence: Cherry Hill

Position sought: 1 year Unexpired term for the Cherry Hill Board of Education

Family: Husband, step-son and 2 daughters

Education: BA in Philosophy (Ethics) – University of California, Santa Barbara; MBA in Supply Chain Management – Northeastern University

Occupation: Adjunct Professor in Supply Chain Management and Marketing

What previous or current elected/appointed offices have you held?

None

Why are you seeking to run for the school board?

As a community member, taxpayer, and parent of two children in the district, I am sick of the district making poor decisions that have negative impacts on our students. I am angry that the district only wants community engagement when it is asking for bond money yet in normal times would prefer the community to not pay attention. Finally, from my point of view, the district is wasting our tax dollars.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

I will speak honestly and advocate for the students in the district.

What is your stance on the bond referendum that is before Cherry Hill School District voters?

I understand the absolute need to maintain our school buildings, however, I am frustrated by the lack of accountability that the administration and the board have taken during the bond referendum discussions to acknowledge their responsibility. The buildings have needed work for decades and, at some point, the administration and board could have made decisions to pull back on other aspects of the budget to address various issues such as roofs, HVAC systems, etc. However, they did not do that. They knowingly and purposefully neglected the maintenance of our schools. Now the community is paying for the district’s bad decisions.

I will vote yes because I am left with no other choice. The buildings need the work and the students deserve safe buildings. What the district needs to do to find more yes votes is acknowledge they made bad decisions over the years, apologize for putting us in this position, and present a plan to prove to our taxpayers that they will be better stewards of our money moving forward.

Would you have voted to transfer the teachers from Cherry Hill East to Cherry Hill West?

I will say that my assumption is transfers are a part of teachers’ contracts, so what the district did is not beyond the realm of possibility. However, the reasoning behind the transfers was not clear and that is why I would need to decline. The district could have been more transparent about the transfers without violating employees’ privacy. This is another example of the district’s lack of accountability and not engaging the community appropriately.

What is your stance on the sexual education curriculum that Gov. Murphy put forth earlier this year?

I don't have problem with the sexual education curriculum stated by the Governor. I want my children to learn about sex and gender identity. There are ways to discuss certain topics that are age appropriate.

What I do have an issue with, however, is that different voices were not considered when creating this curriculum. What I feel has been neglected entirely is the chance for collaboration. My true belief is that if more diverse voices are a part of a curriculum creation, then there is going to be more buy-in and less anger from the community.

What is the most important issue in your district and how do you intend to address it?

Community engagement –

• Board of education weekly email –
• Discuss upcoming votes and other board topics that the community members should know about.
• They could highlight board members, share the meeting agendas, ways to connect with board members.
• Create better accessibility.
• Capping Board of Education meetings at 2 hours. Many meetings can last 3+ hours. After a certain amount of time, community members drop off and the ability to meaningfully discuss topics decreases.
• Bring back emailed comments for the Board of Education meetings
• Committee meetings should be available on zoom.
• The board should focus on more diverse voices on District formed committees.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in your school district that have not been discussed already and how would you tackle these?

More community unity and district standardization -

• Frequency and format of principal communications – should be a standardized template
• Do not put important dates at the end of emails
• Coordinated first day of school mailing to include teacher info, supply lists, bus information, lunch information, etc. (sooner than one week before school starts)
• Standardization - Kindergarten orientation practices; equal PTA-led school initiatives (for example, all elementary schools have 2 dances a year, 2 community events, a principal ice cream social, etc.)
• District unity – need to eliminate West v. East mentality. We are one district.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?
In my free time I like to exercise. I'm an avid runner, and you may find me running on the streets of Cherry Hill. Last March, 20 runners and I ran over 250 miles in 2 1/2 days in a relay race from New York City to Washington DC to benefit the National Down Syndrome Society (ndss.org). As a team, we raised over $95,000 for the organization. I am an athlete ambassador for NDSS, and I'm proud to support them because my nephew has Down syndrome.

Last year I began volunteering for an organization, The Joy of Sox (tjos.org), that provides socks to those experiencing homelessness. I started working with this organization after I ran a successful sock drive at Horace Mann where the students, faculty and staff collected over 1100 pairs of socks. At first, my daughters and I would help sort socks on weekends, and I am now helping the founder write grants to grow the organization and increase its reach in the Philadelphia region and nationally. I will continue to write grants for this organization and volunteer however I can. It would be great as a CHPS board member to connect the two missions. Conducting sock drives in the schools will help the homeless population in Camden County and the surrounding counties in Philadelphia.

Finally, I'm very focused on sustainability and I would like to bring that to the district. Over the last few years, I have done a major overhaul in my home to reduce plastic use and reduce our waste. It would be great to see the district implement some more environmental and sustainability efforts.