BOE President Bill Collins Takes Tough Year in Stride

Bill Collins has had a difficult school year.

The Gloucester Township school board president has stared down angry crowds on more than one occasion. Most of the sour faces were local teachers seeking a contract after a nearly yearlong scrum under an expired deal.

Then there were angry parents.

Many were ticked off when they learned seven of 11 district schools did not meet state standards for performance in the latest evaluations. Others were upset about the direction of special education in the district. A showdown at a board meeting in April between Violet Martin, the district’s new director of special education, and a cadre of parents of special education students is still being talked about.

The appointment of John Bilodeau as the permanent superintendent of schools also rankled many who blame him for the district’s poor performance and defection of some top staff. Some also questioned his credentials because he was the district’s former business administrator and only recently earned education certification.

Despite the challenges, Collins said he always sees the best in Gloucester Township.

“I’ve been here nearly my whole life,” said Collins, 61. “I’ve been here 50 years. I was educated in schools and taught in schools here.”

He even retired this year from Highland Regional High School, part of the Black Horse Pike Regional School District, as the director of special projects and grounds.

So when things get heated, he doesn’t take it personally.

“There is nothing transparent about this board,” a user recently posted on a township parents Facebook page. “It must be really hard to reward their buddies and make all their shady deals with OUR children's money when a couple hundred parents keep showing up!”

Collins said he doesn’t get rattled.

“When people come to me, I don’t get upset,” he said. “They’re fighting for their kid, fighting for their child in a big school district. They’re not trying to hurt anybody.”

Collins, a former township math and science teacher, has been fighting against the odds for most of his life. A childhood disease left him bedridden for more than a year and barely able to walk. But he went on to conquer Perthes disease and have a stellar career in track at Triton Regional High School and then to coach boys track at Highland Regional High School for 36 years.

He knows the township school board and teachers are not perfect, but he also knows Gloucester Township isn’t either.

“I hear a lot of things at board meetings,” he said. ‘What are you going to do to help our kids?’ I hear. Well, go through my resume and you’ll see I’ve been dealing with kids all my life. I love dealing with kids.”

Collins is running for re-election this year in the fall.