Cherry Hill PTA is hosting a forum for residents to meet Board of Education candidates
The forum will be held Sept. 15 at Cherry Hill High School West. Special education and the student use of electronic devices will likely be discussed.
Special education and the student use of electronic devices will likely be two hot topics when candidates for the Cherry Hill Board of Education are questioned at a forum in two weeks.
Jamie Marchese, chair of the Zone PTA for South Jersey’s largest school district, said special education usually comes up at candidate forums and, this year, screen time by students is a big issue.
Cherry Hill schools also are in the midst of a massive renovation program, financed by a $363 million bond referendum passed by voters in 2022.
The forum for the eight school board candidates, sponsored by the parent–teacher association and moderated by the League of Women Voters, will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Cherry Hill High School West auditorium — the first in-person forum since the pandemic. The audience also can join in remotely by Zoom.
The five-member Zone PTA board represents the school district’s 18 school PTAs and the special education PTA.
Marchese said residents have been asking for a live audience for the annual forum.
“Not everyone likes to sit in front of a screen and watch,” she said.
Voters will cast their ballots in advance or go to the polls on Nov. 3 to select three board members for three-year terms.
The candidates, in the order they are listed on the ballot and their slogans, are:
Melissa Manzano (incumbent), Experience in Education
Darby Malvey, Experience in Education
Renee Cherfane (incumbent), Learn, Then Rebuild
Joseph Lynch, Leadership, Results, Integrity
Harold “Hal” Melleby Jr., Experience-Leadership-Community
Steven Redfearn, Experience-Leadership-Community
Ineda “Corrien” Elmore-Stratton, Experience-Leadership-Community
Anne Einhorn
Residents have until Sept. 11 to submit their questions for the candidates, said Marchese, who lives in the Windsor Park neighborhood and has three children in Cherry Hill schools. Questions can be submitted via Google form.
Marchese said that some questions may be combined because of the time constraints on the two-hour forum.
The forum will open with candidates spending two minutes each to present their platforms. Each candidate will also get a two-minute closing statement at the end of the forum.
Candidates are also given one minute to respond to each of the questions.
All community members are invited to attend, Marchese said. In November, voters will select Board of Education members “to represent us in our wants and needs for our public schools,” she said.
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