With Haddonfield Land Swap Imminent, School Board Seeks Input

HADDONFIELD, NJ — The Haddonfield Board of Education hosted the first of several meetings Monday night to find out what borough residents and taxpayers want their school district to look like in the future.

"This is about what we want to see in our schools seen our schools, and let's talk about what everyone believes is important," Chuck Klaus, Haddonfield's Superintendent of Schools, said at the start of Monday's meeting.

"We're going to take you through a little discussion about what you think, what you feel, what you need, what you wish," the school board would do with its properties in the future, he said.

Representatives from LAN Associates, a company whose website says it specializes in educational architecture and engineering, the facilitated a discussion among attendees, trying to ascertain what the Haddonfield School District of the future should look like.

Attendees were asked open-ended questions such as: "What do you feel is most important to your child's education?" "What is one feature you wish the district had?" "What do you like about Haddonfield Borough?" What do you like about the district?"

The meetings are being held in advance of an immiment land swap between Haddonfield Borough and the Haddonfield Board of Education, thus opening several new spaces for the district to find uses for, Klaus reminded attendees.

"Simply stated and once this transaction is complete, Haddonfield School District will take ownership of the parcel of land adjacent to the high school ending at Hopkins Road, including Cooley Hall, the carriage house, the potting shed and the greenhouse," he has previously stated. "In exchange, the borough will take ownership of the Radnor Avenue fields, although our
athletic teams will continue to use them."

The land swap, when it occurs, will nearly double the size of the property that Haddonfield School District has, Klaus said.

Many Haddonfield students, teachers and administrators have already given their input to LAN Associates, representatives from the company said.

Future meetings for Haddonfield School District parents and taxpayers to give their input are currently scheduled for Tuesday, May 3; Monday, May 9; and Tuesday, May 10. Additional meetings may be scheduled, if the need exists.

The school board asked would-be attendees of these meetings to RSVP using this website: https://bit.ly/37sbAkh.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.