Our names are Dutch and Morlee Sell. We are siblings and life-long residents of Cinnaminson. At the beginning of this year our parents decided, based on how well the Cinnaminson School District handled remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, that they would enroll us in an online, homeschool curriculum. Our parents recognized the efficiencies and time-saving that came with online, remote education; they wanted to recapture that for us. They also wanted to provide an education for us that was flexible and would allow us to pursue our passions.
In New Jersey, school districts are allowed to decide whether they include homeschooled students in extracurricular activities; also known as Policy 2431. In Cinnaminson, Policy 2431, which outlines the school district’s policies on extracurricular activities, specifically excludes homeschooled students. But not all school districts exclude homeschoolers; Maple Shade and Eastern/Voorhees, to name a few, all allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities.
In March 2024, we spoke to the Cinnaminson Board of Education along with our Dad, Doug Sell, Ries Fox (a homeschooler from Maple Shade), Anne Fox (Ries’ mom), and Ellen Weist (a former member of the Maple Shade Board of Education for over two decades). The Foxes and Mrs. Weist spoke about how Maple Shade changed their Policy 2431 in order to allow homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities (Ries is on the Cross Country and Track teams) and the positive impact it had on homeschooled students and the Maple Shade community. We spoke with our Dad about how we would like the Cinnaminson Board of Education to allow homeschool students to participate in extracurricular activities. We even suggested Cinnaminson do a trial program for one year to see if allowing homeschoolers would be a good fit in Cinnaminson.
After months of speaking at board of education meetings, in-person meetings in the superintendent’s office, and dozens of emails from residents and teachers from Cinnaminson supporting a change to Policy 2431 allowing homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities, Laura Fitzwater and Dan Evans, through their own ideology and admitted lack of research, refused to change Policy 2431; they even refused to do a trial period to allow homeschoolers.
While speaking at the board of education meetings, Mrs. Donna Iacone, Mrs. Eileen Bleistine, Mrs. Edyta Poplawski and Ms. Jennifer Falconiero heard us speak. They agreed that we should be allowed, as homeschoolers, to participate in extracurricular activities in the community where we live. Please vote for Mrs. Iacone, Ms. Falconiero and Mrs. Poplawski (#1, #2 and #3 on your ballots) and Mrs. Bleistine (#1 for the unexpired one-year term). They want to make the Cinnaminson School District a place that serves everyone.
Morlee Sell (age 11)
Dutch Sell (age 14)
Doug Sell, Jr.
Cinnaminson
