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Cherry Hill Township School District board meeting, Sep 22, 2026

1 h 47 min · 8 public speakers

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 8:39

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 47 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Cherry Hill school board reviews chronic absenteeism data and construction progress 9:41

  • The board heard a staff report on chronic absenteeism, which the state defines as a student missing 10% or more of the school days in which the student is enrolled. 8:39
  • Board members asked about chronic absenteeism rates before 2020 and about how many chronically absent students have an IEP or 504 plan. 22:29
  • A presenter gave a construction update and said the East auditorium remained on target to come online on January 1st. 37:45
  • A motion to approve the minutes, items 11.1 through 11.4, was announced as carried. 1:14:47
Item by item (12)
  1. Opening and meeting notice 0:42
    • Gina Winters called the meeting to order, and the roll was called. 0:42
    • Gina Winters said public notice of the meeting was given on September 17, 2026, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1:10
  2. Student representative reports 1:10
    • A student representative from High School West reported on SAT testing, college visits, fall sports and a positive impact from the new cell phone policy. 2:05
    • A representative from High School East said auditorium construction meant there would be no fall preview this year and that winter concerts on January 21st and January 28th in 2027 would be the first performances in the renovated auditorium. 7:30
  3. Chronic absenteeism report 8:39
    • A district staff member said overall attendance was 96.7% and that in the 25⁠-⁠26 school year chronically absent secondary students had an average course grade of 80.6, compared with 87.0 for other students. 13:40
    • The staff member said 9 schools lowered their chronic absenteeism rate over the past 3 years, 2 remained relatively stable and 6 had higher rates. 15:09
    • Bridget Palmer asked what percentage of chronically absent students have an IEP or 504 plan, and a staff member said the data were not at hand and would be provided. 24:22
  4. Construction update 37:24
    • The presenter said the Stockton playground had an anticipated completion of October 16th and the Beck locker rooms would be available on October 9th. 40:13
    • In response to a question from Gina Winters about upcoming work, the presenter said about 3 to 4 years of construction remained and the overall bond was about 50% encumbered. 45:54
    • The presenter said the 6 remaining elementary security vestibules were out to bid and the West auditorium would go offline in April and return in January of 2028. 46:30
  5. First public comment 51:35
    • A speaker at public comment said town council approved funding from an opioid settlement fund for a mental health clinician for the schools for 2 years, at about $240,000. 53:23
    • Speakers at public comment asked board members to vote no on item 16.2. ~56:19
    • A speaker at public comment asked about the cost of a contract for culturally responsive practices under item 13.3 and why items 14.6 and 14.7 did not list names. 1:02:38
  6. Correspondence and superintendent's report 1:03:22
    • No correspondence was shared with the board. ~1:03:44
    • The superintendent thanked the township for its partnership on the clinician position and said the internet-enabled devices policy was a non-issue. 1:03:49
  7. Board goals and fair funding update 1:05:41
    • Renee Cherfane said the board developed the goals it would vote on at its August 22nd retreat, including a goal tied to the annual board self-evaluation. 1:05:48
    • Gina Winters said a regional public forum on the state funding formula would be held October 5th at 6 PM at Camden County College and that the board was considering shifting October committee meetings. 1:08:48
  8. Action agenda 1:08:48
    • The board voted on the minutes, items 11.1 through 11.4, and curriculum and instruction items 12.1 through 12.3. 1:08:48
    • Adam Greenbaum moved items 13.2 through 13.7 and noted a donation from Sharp PTA to buy 80 folding chairs for Sharp Elementary School. 1:16:23
    • Miriam Stern said items 14.6 and 14.7 were held and moved items 14.1 through 14.5 and 14.8 through 14.11. 1:17:21
    • A motion on agenda items 15.2 through 15.4 was announced as carried. 1:18:15
  9. Governance item 1:18:55
    • A motion was made to approve agenda item 16.2. 1:19:00
    • The motion carried. ~1:19:58
  10. Second public comment 1:20:03
    • A speaker at public comment asked the board to share a prioritized list of what it wants from changes to state funding. 1:21:30
    • Speakers at public comment asked for clarity on absences for preschool students and recommended that guidance counselors review data for students with 504 plans. 1:25:56
    • A speaker at public comment read a district statement that only the host school's PTA and zone PTA would be permitted to attend back-to-school nights, and asked why the speaker's organization should have to coordinate through another group. 1:33:49
  11. Board member back-to-school night reports 1:39:06
    • Melissa Manzano said they attended the Malburg, Mann, Johnson East and Coles back-to-school nights, and Adam Greenbaum described the back-to-school night at Woodcrest Elementary School. 1:40:22
    • Gina Winters said board members missed 2 back-to-school nights and attended every other one. 1:43:31
  12. Superintendent comments and adjournment 1:43:31
    • The superintendent said the special education PTA has not been banned from attending back-to-school nights. 1:44:11
    • The superintendent said a comment made during the meeting about OCR complaints being confirmed was not true. 1:46:51
    • The meeting was adjourned. ~1:47:17

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “BOE Meeting - 9/22/2026”