Candidates Collin Duckett (left), Candi Cummings, Adam Greenbaum and Gina Winters sit on a Board of Education forum hosted by the Cherry Hill Zone PTA and League of Women Voters on Set. 21. Janet Fisher Hughes from the League of Women Voters served as the moderator.
Cherry Hill Township will see three Board of Education seats up for election or re-election on Nov. 4, with five total candidates running for the available seats.
Two of them, Board President Gina Winters and Board Vice President Adam Greenbaum, are both incumbents running for reelection, while the other three candidates – Collin Duckett, Candi Cummings and Brandi N. DeVeaux – running for new seats.
In order to help voters be better informed and acquainted with the five candidates, the Cherry Hill Zone PTA and League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum with a virtual audience on Sept. 21.
Four candidates were in attendance, with DeVeaux not able to attend in person and instead opting to answer all of the questions on her campaign’s Facebook page.
Janet Fisher Hughes of the League moderated the forum, with fellow member Marilyn Bergen keeping time.
Each candidate was given a chance to introduce themselves and explain why they wanted to run and what they would hope to accomplish in the role should they be elected, with Fisher Hughes reading the statement for DeVeaux when it was her turn.
The order in which the candidates were to speak was randomly selected with Duckett going first, and each received two minutes to complete their statements.
Each candidate offered their perspectives on why they want to be elected, from Duckett’s position as a recent graduate from the district, to the role the rest of the candidates play in PTA’s or generally in their own children’s educations within the district.
The first three questions asked the candidates for their connection to the district, goals if elected, and whether or not they had any conflicts of interest that would impact their ability to fulfill their duties in the position.
All five candidates stated that they have no conflicts of interest, though goals and connections to the district varied.
Winters said that her goal would be to see the bond referendum projects through to completion including the preschool expansion and see the five-year strategic plan through.
“I think our five year strategic plan that was community driven and the board voted on is something to look forward to in the next five years to really drive progress in the district forward on areas such as academic achievement, facilities, special education and all the things that we know we need to do to make our schools even better than they are right now,” she said.
Duckett, who was next to speak, said he would focus on making the school climate and environment more inviting to students and responsibly budgeting to allow students to have what they need.
“I want to turn school into not something that the students necessarily view as a seven-hour chore that they have to do every day, but rather a home away from home,” he explained.
Cummings’s goals would be to maintain and set even higher standards for academic achievement, increase teacher support and create lasting community partnerships.
” … Teacher support is a critical resource, training, respect and empowerment are all things that we really need to instill in our teachers,” she said.
Greenbaum plans to focus most on funding and fiscal responsibility.
“Every year our district doesn’t get our fair share, and every year we have to rise to the challenge to figure out, how do we best support our students with limited and diminishing funds each year,” he said.
On her Facebook page, Deveaux listed her top goals as ensuring timely and equitable support for special education, transparency and accountability from the board and handling the budget.
“I will work to protect critical programs in the face of budget cuts,” she said. “I will work to prioritize funding for essential programs.”
Questions touched on a variety of different topics that have been surrounding Cherry Hill schools as well as the educational landscape more broadly, with the community having the opportunity to send in questions before the beginning of the forum.
All candidates answered that they support the Freedom to Read Act that was passed into law last year. Each candidate also uniquely addressed concerns like AI in the classroom.
