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Parents and teachers press Gloucester Township board on CPAG clarity and a denied jeans‑day fundraiser; former employee alleges wrongful termination
Summary
Public commenters at the board meeting praised district services, pressed for clarity and accessibility of the special‑education parent advisory group (CPAG) and its Jan. 9 relaunch, a teacher complained a jeans‑day fundraiser request was denied and personally financed gifts, and a former employee said she was terminated and found eligible for unemployment benefits.
Parents, teachers and former employees used the public‑comment period at the Gloucester Township Board of Education meeting to press the district on special‑education parent Advisory Group (CPAG) outreach, to describe a denied teacher fundraiser, and to allege improper personnel action.
Several parents said they were grateful for district supports but asked for clearer CPAG outreach and agendas. Dean Andrew Summerdale and other parents said the Dec. 9 meeting with special‑services staff lacked a clear outline and that some families had assumed it was an IEP meeting. Administrators and board members said the district will ‘‘reset’’ the CPAG and host a Jan. 9 session at the Lewis Library with state representative Ellen Woodcock and a Camden County Family Support Organization presentation; the meeting time was adjusted in the record to 6:30–8:30 p.m., and the district said it would post the event and notify families.
Teacher Danielle Clark, who identified herself as a 27‑year district educator at Glen Landing, described organizing the school’s Giving Tree holiday program for 25 years and said her request for a $5 jeans‑day fundraiser was denied by administration this year. Clark said she and colleagues scrambled to raise funds, using personal cash and donations. ‘‘This year, our request for this jeans day was denied, and I was shocked to say the least,’’ she said, describing that she purchased extra gifts with personal funds and received cash donations from staff. She asked the board who would notify families that the fundraiser request was not approved.
Former employee Dorothy Hope DeLeo said she had worked for the district for 37 years and that she was terminated Nov. 6. She said she applied for unemployment benefits and received a New Jersey Department of Labor determination that she was eligible and that ‘‘no evidence has been provided to demonstrate any willful or deliberate misconduct.’’ The board’s solicitor and chair declined to address personnel matters in public comment, noting personnel issues are not discussed in open session.
During the meeting, administrators also presented a student safety data system report and clarified what the district reports as ‘‘police notifications’’ (which can include notifying SROs and do not necessarily mean a citation or arrest). Grant Hildebrandt, supervisor of student support services, told the board the data cover incidents of violence, vandalism, alcohol and drugs for the period Jan. 1–June 30 and that the report has been uploaded to the Department of Education.
Board members thanked departing colleagues and welcomed newly seated member Dina Hendry (name announced by a board member). They closed the meeting after routine votes and holiday well wishes.
Next steps recorded in the meeting included the Jan. 9 CPAG session (Lewis Library, 6:30–8:30 p.m.) and follow‑up by administration on communications to parents about CPAG and meeting agendas.
