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VOORHEES TOWNSHIP (SBN) — The Voorhees Township Board of Education named Dr. Christopher Heilig as interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at its Sept. 23 meeting, filling a leadership post during a year of transition as Superintendent Neely Hackett prepares to retire.

Heilig, who served as a Burlington County superintendent for more than a decade before retiring last year, will work at a per diem rate of $700 per day from Sept. 28 through June 30, 2027, under a contract that can be ended with or without cause on 30 days’ notice.

“This is probably unsuccessful retirement,” Heilig told the board, adding that the part of the job he enjoyed most was “working with my directors on the instructional program” and getting into classrooms.

Julie Ketover, board vice president, presiding in place of board president Monica Watson, welcomed the appointment.

“Shortest retirement ever, but we are great grateful to have you here,” she said.

The board also moved forward on a slate of policy updates, including a new heat participation policy for student-athlete safety that the policy committee recommended adopting in full for grades six through eight. The heat policy determines when athletic programs such as practices or games should be curtailed because of excessive temperature.

The committee also recommended clarifying a regulation on internet-enabled devices to reflect that middle school students store their devices in school lockers during the day rather than in a separate bin. All the policy items were approved.

In transportation, the board approved an arrangement with Eastern Camden County Regional School District for one bus route at $150 per day, and ratified bus routes BC1, K32, and SHS5 for the 2026-2027 school year. The board also canceled bus route OS with T&L Transportation effective Oct. 1 because of an enrollment change.

Brenda Falkenstein, a resident who said she was a building-based substitute teacher at Osage School, asked the board to examine substitute pay.

She said the per diem rate has remained at $135 per day for five full school years, which she calculated at $19.29 an hour against New Jersey’s $15.92 minimum wage.

“I urge you to speak to your building administrators and your secretaries to find out exactly how essential your substitute teachers are to the daily operations of all of your schools,” she said.

Earlier, Voorhees Middle School students presented the Butterfly Project, a Holocaust education initiative funded by a grant from the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Foundation. The sixth grade painted 350 clay butterflies, each paired with a biography card for one of the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust, as part of a worldwide memorial. Ketover called the work “very timely” in “a world that is so divisive with so much hate”.

The board’s next meeting is a special session via Zoom on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

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Voorhees Schools Name Interim Assistant Superintendent