Public Confronts Cherry Hill BOE Over Security, Communication

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Families from throughout the Cherry Hill Public School District packed the auditorium at the Mahlberg Administration Building to deliver one message to the Board of Education Tuesday night: students in the district don’t feel safe.

About 30 students, including a student representative to the Board of Education, and multiple parents addressed the board with emotions running high at times, demanding tighter security and better communication from the district during a meeting that lasted just over three-and-half hours.

Attention was brought to the district twice this week, first when students held a protest in the hallways of Cherry Hill High School East on Monday. On Tuesday morning, hundreds of students walked out of class.
Students engaged in both forms of protest under the threat of being suspended or not being allowed to attend prom, but it was revealed during the meeting that Principal Dennis Perry had rescinded that threat.

The catalyst was an AP History teacher who claimed he was suspended because of comments he made during class about school safety.

“The Board of Education is the only board that can fire or suspend someone,” Cherry Hill Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Meloche said during Tuesday night’s meeting.

He pointed out that Tuesday night was the first time the board met since last Thursday, when 59-year-old Timothy Locke claimed he was suspended. The board took no action to suspend Locke during Tuesday’s meeting, but the administration wouldn’t elaborate any further on Locke’s status with the district. It is seeking a long-term substitute teacher for AP History.

While students were concerned about Locke, a war veteran who has been teaching in the district for 17 years and is praised for the passion he brings to the classroom, they were mostly concerned about the security of their schools and the lack of communication and respect from the administrators.

“This would not even be an issue if the Cherry Hill High School East administration did something to address the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings,” 16-year-old high school junior Kyle Krell said in an impassioned speech. “If we had heard something from the administration, students would feel safe and we wouldn’t need some teacher to come in and return that safety to us.”

He was among the many voices who expressed anger about the school not recognizing the 9/11 anniversary, the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the multiple school shootings, including the one at a high school in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead on Valentine’s Day.

Krell also said it took Perry two months before acknowledging the death of Cherry Hill East alum Kenneth Smith, who died in a high profile naval accident last summer. The full video of his speech, provided by his father, can be found below.

Other students reiterated statements made in recent days that the administration doesn’t take them seriously and didn’t listen to their concerns during two assemblies following the recent protests.

“It became apparent that the true purpose of those meetings was to silence the students and avoid a protest,” one student said. “Dr. Perry told me there was nothing I can do and that I should focus on my studies.”

Cherry Hill High School East student representative to the board Lauren Atkin said that although the students may not have had all the information pertaining to Locke’s situation, this is something that was important to students.

“The Cherry Hill School District equipped us with the necessary tools to shape our own opinions, and the students decided to fight for our teacher,” Atkin said.

She also referred to the security measures included in the district’s "Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020: A Clear Vision for the Future" plan. The security plan calls for vestibules, cameras inside and outside schools, perimeter and site lighting, and card access. These measures would apply to all schools, but Atkin argued it’s not enough and the district needs to act on security well before 2020.

Earlier in the day, municipal officials released a statement announcing that Cherry Hill Police Chief William Monaghan has recommended that the board incorporate armed police officers as part of any plan that is implemented.

Any final decision rests with the Board of Education, but Mayor Chuck Cahn spoke during the meeting and said the township will come up with the money needed to help the district implement security measures, if need be.

“Now is the time for action,” Cahn said. “We need to do something as a partnership. We are in this together.”

In addition to armed officers, parents emphasised the idea of installing metal detectors at the schools, while acknowledging there were things the schools could start doing immediately that didn’t cost money.

One parent suggested enforcing policies that are already in place, such as not allowing parents to hold the door for each other while on their way into the schools, thus making every parent ring in. Identification should also be required, she argued, and a system could be implemented in which people dropping off items, such as lunches for their children, would leave those items in an already existing vestibule and school employees could pick up those items once those parents leave. That would cut down on the number of people entering the school who shouldn’t be there, she said.

More information on how to seek guidance from counselors and mental health screenings at the start of each school year were among other suggestions by parents. They also want the schools to make it more clear to students what they should be doing in specific emergency situations.

Tensions ran high at times, with parents arguing with Meloche and Board President Barry Dickinson at times. As is board policy, board members didn’t respond to members of the public, who in turn were seeking answers when it came to their children’s safety.

It’s an issue in school districts across the country. There have been multiple walkouts in South Jersey alone over the last few days, and more walkouts have been planned nationally later this month. Many districts have the same security concerns Cherry Hill faces, and students and parents seem determined to solve these issues locally before it disappears from the national consciousness.

As for Locke, Cherry Hill resident Eric Ascalon said he spoke to the teacher on Tuesday, and that Locke was concerned about the threat of students not being allowed to go to the prom and being suspended for their protests. Earlier in the day, parents received a letter from the school saying that threat was being rescinded.

"That happened because of you and your children," Ascalon said. "That's because you spoke out. He is the kind of teacher that inspires you to speak up when you see something that's wrong."

Attached image: Families from throughout the Cherry Hill Public School District packed the auditorium at the Mahlberg Administration Building for Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting. Photo credit: Anthony Bellano