The final Evesham Township School Board meeting of 2017 began with a moment of silence for the victims of the violent shooting at Sandy Hook that took place exactly 5 years earlier. After a period of quiet reflection and remembrance, the meeting commenced with recognition of the Marlton Rotary Club and their donation of dictionaries to 3rd Grade and ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Rotary Club President Michael Thompson was on hand to be recognized and describe how donating dictionaries every year is an honor for the organization.
Superintendent Scavelli then invited the members of the Marlton Middle Cross Country Team, along with their coach Janell Hibbs, who recently competed in the State Championship. The children were all invited to the front for pictures and were presented with certificates recognizing their achievements.
The Marlton Middle Girls Soccer team, along with their coach Erin Alexander, were also recognized for their achievement, winning the championship of the South Jersey Middle School Athletic Conference.
Mr Scavelli announced that the district was recognized by the Burlington County Joint Insurance Fund, receiving Certificates of Excellence for Outstanding Claims Management and Outstanding Claims Processing. The certificates come with awards totaling $3,500, which goes back into the budget.
This meeting of the School Board was the final School Board meeting for Board President JoAnne Harmon and Vice President Sandy Student, both of whom declined to run for an additional term. Mr Scavelli presented them both with plaques and thanked them individually for their service.
Ms Harmon thanked her daughters and husband for always being there for her, and had to let the audience know she was a cryer, as she quickly became emotional. She recalled how she had run for School Board a couple of times and lost before ultimately winning in 2013. She thanks Mr Scavelli for his dedication and hard work in his 24-7 job, and thanked each board member individually with a personal anecdote. She thanked all of the wonderful teachers in Evesham and congratulated Janis Knoll and Lea Ryan for their election to the School Board. "We are all here, each and every one of us, because we care."
Mr Student recalled his 12 years of memories on the school board through 3 Superintendents. He acknowledged the dedication of his fellow board members, the sacrifice, time and expenses each member has to contribute. He then offered a challenge up to the new board that will be seated in January, acknowledging the issues that lay before it:
- The increasing rate of Special Education students, which now comprises 20% of the student population and 34% of the budget
- Enrollment has declined 1000 children in a decade, but there has not been a commensurate drop in staff
- NJ has the highest property taxes in the US
- NJ has 592 school districts Pennsylvania has only 500, but has more public school students. NJ has to 'reign in home rule teaching'.
He acknowledged some of the successes with the advent of the Gifted and Talented Program, the electronic boards and the technology curriculum, and hoped there would be closer cooperation with the township in the future.
Following the farewell addresses, board business commenced with the agenda. Every issue before the board passed unanimously, aside from a few abstentions. There was some discussion on whether issues found as a result of an audit were being property conveyed to the Policy Committee. Many of the board members participated in this discussion, and it was agreed that the topic would be revisited after the new School Board is seated in January.
There were some 'shout outs' to retiring members of the School District, Margie Bannon (who was recognized with flowers and cake back in September), Diane Crowley and Lisa Student.
Mr Student presented two ideas for the future: Video conferencing and paid tuition for out of district students.
Several members of the public spoke during public comment, offering well wishes for Ms Harmon and Mr Student in their future endeavors. Lisa Mansfield noted that the class of 2018 at Cherokee has recently begun receiving their acceptance letters to colleges, including many prestigious universities. She acknowledged that their educational careers began at the elementary and middle schools in Evesham, and their success at Cherokee would not have been possible without the teachers and programs in the Evesham Township School District.
During board member announcements, much of the discussion turned to the music programs in the district. Ms Everhart and Ms Barbagiovanni attended many of the elementary and middle school concerts that took place over the previous 2 weeks and they were wonderful showcases of our children. And that the success of the plays at Cherokee are in large part due to the programs in the elementary and middle schools.
At the most recent concert at Cherokee High School, Mr Lynch, conductor of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble acknowledged this as well, complimenting the music programs at the elementary and middle school level. The current freshman class is the first class to have participated in the 'Evesham All Star Band', where the top musicians from each elementary school are invited to participate in a town-wide band. The current freshman class has more students in the music programs than they have had in a long time, and he attributed that to the music programs in the lower grades, and thanked each music teacher in the ETSD by name for their efforts.
After a short meeting behind closed doors, the School Board returned and the meeting was adjourned. The Reorganization Meeting for the School Board, where the newly elected Janis Knoll and Lea Ryan will be sworn in, will occur on January 4th at 7pm at the Administration Building. It is open to the public and the new President and Vice President will be elected.
Post Script - 12/18/2017 - I have added a Fact Check of some of the statements made in this blog post.
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