Even as the Haddon Township school district grapples with an $806,000, or 8.1 percent reduction in state aid compared to the previous school year, the current seven-point grading scale was once again the story of the school board meeting on April 18.

The depressing effects of the budget shortfall were far from hidden, with the board spending nearly an hour in executive session discussing how the budget will impact its personnel and programming. A handful of staff members attended the meeting in anticipation of any news regarding reductions in force.

The board even approved an appraisal for the board of education building on 500 Rhoads Ave., which district superintendent Dr. Robert Fisicaro said was put forth in the event of future state aid reductions.

The grading scale issue initially looked to be potentially taking a turn for the better. While Fisicaro rejected a flat ten-point scale at the last board meeting, he said he was open to other ideas, including a plus/minus ten-point scale. At the beginning of the meeting, Fisicaro passed out handouts on the new HTHS Grading Scale Committee that already met twice to brainstorm how to best maximize college merit aid without negatively impacting admissions for students applying to more selective colleges.

The handout included information from an email Fisicaro sent two days ago announcing the creation of the committee, and the names of the members of the 13-member committee. The committee includes high school principal Gary O’Brien, the high school’s two assistant principals, seven staff members, the board’s two student representatives, and two juniors. Their recommendations will be considered by the school board and then a small parent group.

Fisicaro told The Retrospect on Friday that committee members included long-time teachers and counselors in the district, along with two teachers with more than a decade of experience teaching in other districts that utilized different grading scales. One is also a parent of a child in the district, hence serving a dual role.

While there was some appreciation for the committee’s creation, parents were critical that a parent was not included on the main committee, as was the case in Haddonfield. Once again, much of the frustration was focused on O’Brien, who is seen as the main obstacle for implementing the ten-point scale. Parents argued that O’Brien should not be on the committee so it could remain objective, as he defended the seven-point grading at the March meeting and in 2017. They also alleged that this bias could prevent staff from disagreeing with their boss, especially with two being non-tenured.

Seemingly referring to O’Brien, Al Sauter said that he and his wife met with one member of the committee in November to discuss the grading scale, who allegedly told them, “just so you know, nothing changes unless I say so.” Carrie Kitchen-Santiago even explicitly named O’Brien during her public comment, noting “I have no issue with Gary O’Brien as a person, but I’ll be honest. Very few parents trust that he is going to come forward with anything that they’re going to buy into.” After that comment, board president Kellie Hinkle said individual educators could not be named during the public comment period. When reached by email on Friday, O’Brien declined to comment.

Fisicaro said parents were actually the catalyst for the committee. However, Fisicaro wanted to ensure students and staff could speak without the fear of being pitted against parents. Moreover, it would expand an already large committee.

After defending O’Brien, Fisicaro said, “I don’t want to adjudicate whatever presentation occurred in 2017....There’s too many difficult things that are before this district right now, and there’s too many difficult things behind us on this particular topic, that we have to move forward in a positive way.” Following that comment, Jennifer Parker took the stand to recall a Facebook memory from seven years ago that encouraged district parents to come to an informational session to discuss a number of items - including the seven-point grading scale.

Even the creation of a four-member parent and community group - with the option to create another group - to review the committee’s recommendations in May was not well received. One member of that group, Jerry McCarthy, emailed

The Retrospect on Tuesday, “After thinking about it, I don’t even feel comfortable saying I’m on a ‘committee’ even if asked. It’s not like I’m holding meetings with big groups of parents or have access to Bob Fisicaro’s grading scale committees. I think Bob trying to put us on a ‘committee’ is just for show.”

Progress has been made on other related matters discussed at the March board meeting. On Tuesday, Fisicaro said he had spoken with Camden County College the day before about ensuring students who had received between an 80 to an 85 - a C in Haddon Township but a B in other districts - would receive dual credit in the future. He said he was confident that the problem would be solved in the near future.