How Concerns over Present and Future Class Sizes & Increased Hiring of Administrators Turned into A Lesson On Parental Belittlement

-Michelle Phillippi

My first inklings of something feels off this school year began in August. When my first two children began school in our district, I had felt a sense of ease and knew my children were supported in the classroom. Class sizes were smaller and there was much more teacher support in the classroom. But when my youngest entered Kindergarten, I was surprised that she would be in a classroom with 21 students with one teacher and no help teacher. Surely this was going to be challenging for the teacher and possibly not the best learning experience for the Kindergarteners. As of today, there will be an additional student added to the class. Below is the correspondence between me and Dr. Melissa Varley.

My original letter to Dr. Varley on September 4th addressed several concerns I had as a parent of three children in the Berkeley Heights school district. Her response evaded those concerns and instead was a short dismissive note implying I only had my youngest child’s interest at heart. Stunned but not deterred by her response I again wrote our Superintendent on September 7th. In that correspondence I expressed my thoughts on her initial response in hopes that perhaps she would be more forthcoming and respectful to a parent’s concerns.

Didn’t I have the right as a parent in the district to address concerns, ask for transparency and be treated with respect? Should I just accept Dr. Varley’s responses?

I vacillated between disbelief and self-doubt. I made excuses for her replies. Maybe I was over thinking it, maybe she’s busy, maybe I was being overly sensitive. Then the state school rankings were released, and I was astounded to find that our district continues to plummet in the rankings. My husband and I chose to move to Berkeley Heights for its excellent school district. Now we find ourselves questioning that decision. But there was no question that I could no longer remain silent. My first and only personal experience with Dr. Varley greatly concerned us and propelled me into taking a stance publicly.

During discussions of correspondence and concerns with other parents in the community I discovered there is something fundamentally wrong with our administration and the majority of our Board of Education members. I learned parents are discouraged from speaking out and in many cases shunned. Apart from a couple of Board of Education members, Dr. Varley gets a stamp of approval on everything she proposes, and thus far, some great educators have been eliminated, parents have had to fight to keep world language classes and save our athletics programs with increased fees. Meanwhile, administration costs are skyrocketing, and the districts rankings are in a free fall. This begs the question, why is the majority of our Board of Education focused solely on serving the needs of Dr. Varley and her administrative staff. Shouldn’t the students be the priority.

I was warned; subtly by some and more by others that going public with my correspondence and challenging Dr. Varley would only create problems for me. Isn’t Dr. Varley the employee of every taxpayer in Berkeley Heights. And as such shouldn’t she be held accountable and be reviewed on performance and our Board of Education should do their duty and represent us as they were elected to. It is time to end the subservience to our employee and get this school district back on track. Let’s start by voting for school board members that are going to represent the needs of our students, concerns of the parents and the taxpayers of Berkeley Heights.

Download Full Exchange with Dr. Varley

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