Fate Of $363M Renovation Plan To Cherry Hill Schools Uncertain

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The Cherry Hill Public School District has launched a campaign to educate voters on an upcoming $363 million bond referendum to give a "yay" or "nay" to spend $363 million in upgrades to the district's 19 schools.

The campaign stopped at the Cherry Hill Township Council Meeting Monday and launched a website called cherryhilltomorrow.com to explain the structural needs for the referendum plan and drum up support. However, public comments made at the meeting leave the outcome of the bond referendum uncertain.

With the youngest school in the district being 50 years old, Cherry Hill residents, school district officials and an outside consultant have identified "critical" work that needs to be done at the schools, Benjamin Ovadia, Cherry Hill School Board President, said at the township council meeting.

Some of this work includes upgrades in safety, security, infrastructure, air quality and air conditioning; new roofs; compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, classroom modernization and installing energy-efficient lighting, he continued.

"There isn't a great Plan B" if the referendum does not pass, Ovadia said. "We are convinced this is mission critical. So we wanted to launch a public effort."

Some Cherry Hill residents like Andy McIlvaine made comments at the meeting that suggested they will vote in favor of the referendum.

"Our staff members our community that use our facilities, it will promote a sense of community pride and make Cherry Hill more attractive for the next generation of homebuyers who move here for the schools," he said.

Another resident, Jessica Fingerman, also seemed to support the bond referendum.

"For many years now the school building infrastructure has been deteriorating, despite our district's best efforts, there are only so many repairs that can be accomplished within a given budget year," she said.

Other residents, such as Pnina Mintz, made comments that suggested they are against the bond referendum.

"Asking the taxpayers to hold the bag yet again ... and ... not holding anyone accountable that was in a leadership position on the issue of keeping our schools up to date," she said. "The taxpayers should not pay for this bond. Be creative. Find that money somewhere else."

Rick Short, was another resident who seemed to be against the referendum.

"We live in some kind of Zulu world where we think that no one's hurting and our families are supposedly making $4,000 to $5,000 less, and you come in with the highest bond [amount] possible," he said. "The economy is what's going to kill this bond."

The vote on the 2022 bond referendum will take place on Oct. 6, said Cherry Hill School Board Vice President Miriam Stern.

If the bond referendum does not pass, the state's offer of supporting about one-third of the $363 million price tag goes away, according to Ovadia. In addition, if the bond referendum does not pass, it could take four years to develop as comprehensive a plan as the one currently before voters, according to Ovadia.

"This work needs to get done. If we don't do it, it will just be more expensive [and] it will be more complicated," he said.

Stern added that "the needs of our schools are real and pressing. Many of you have seen them. Many some of you who grew up here, continue to see the same needs that you saw when you went to our schools. We must act now. [The bond referendum] is a mechanism to do it."

Prior to this year, the two most recent bond referendums put before Cherry Hill Township
voters regarding the public schools occurred in 1999 and 2018, Stern said. While the 1999 bond referendum passed, the 2018 one did not, she said.

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