Parents, homeschooled students urge Cinnaminson board to allow extracurricular participation; policy committee to take up issue March 28

Dozens of public commenters at the Cinnaminson Township School District board meeting urged the board to change district policy so homeschooled students can participate in school extracurricular activities including sports, clubs and proms.

Douglas Sell, who said he and his wife recently began homeschooling two children, asked the board to "revise the current policy towards homeschool children for participation in extracurricular activities," and invited the board to consider Maple Shade’s experience after that district amended its policy.

Several students spoke in support. Fifth grader Morley Sell said she hopes to play lacrosse and join clubs if the policy is changed. Eighth grader Dutch So said homeschooling let him work at his own pace during the pandemic but that excluding homeschoolers forces families to choose between education format and participation in athletics.

"As the board of education, you can eliminate the exclusion of homeschooled students from extracurricular activities in the school district," Dutch told the board. Reese Fox, a Maple Shade homeschool alumnus who later gained athletic eligibility after that district amended its policy, described the change as transformative and urged Cinnaminson to act.

Maple Shade residents and parents Anne Fox and Ellen Weist described how Maple Shade temporarily amended and later permanently adopted a policy to allow homeschooled students to participate, saying the change did not bring the predicted negative consequences and had positive outcomes for student inclusion.

Superintendent Capello and board members responded that the policy committee has a scheduled meeting on March 28 and the homeschooling policy will be considered there. "We do expect that this policy will be up for consideration that evening," the superintendent said. The public speakers requested the board consider extracurriculars broadly — not only athletics but clubs, proms, graduation participation and other school events.

No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting; members of the public were invited to share information with the policy committee and to attend the March 28 discussion. The board did later approve a personnel appointment after an executive session: Joanne Tomkiewicz as interim transportation supervisor for 03/04/2024–06/30/2024.