Shauna’s Notes on the 2/13 BHPS BOE (postponed) Meeting Agenda

Audit, Superintendent Search & “XX”

This will be a special meeting of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, so there is very little on the agenda. What IS there is worth a look.

William Swisher of Suplee Clooney & Co. will present the audit to the board. This is the audit that the State of New Jersey says should be presented to the Board before December 5th. BHCW has had a chance to look at the audit, as it has been submitted to the Department of Education. There were questions about the category of Support Services Administration, and the amount listed in that category, and we sent those questions to our district administration. No response was received. We’ll see if this is addressed in the audit presentation.

There will be a discussion on superintendent search firms. What’s interesting here is that New Providence is using the New Jersey School Board Association to help them find their next superintendent. While there may be dozens and dozens of search firms in New Jersey, we were a little surprised to see we’re not interviewing a key New Jersey resource. No hint as to whether this is a positive or negative thing, just a point of interest.  We noted that Kathleen Helewa, from the consulting company of the same name, was a member of the New Jersey School Boards Association.  McPherson and Jacobson is a national-level superintendent search firm, with consultants in New Jersey.  Their website notes a “guarantee” is available.  Due to time constraints, we did not look into what this entails.  There is a funny coincidence with 4M Consulting. As we were looking at the firms listed on the agenda, the first two results that popped up in Google for 4M were one company in Sparta, NJ, where Superintendent Varley once worked, and one in Georgia. To be VERY clear, we are not making ANY allegations here; just pointing out a humorous moment.

Lastly, the agenda has the usual list of things that can be discussed in any executive session. For this special meeting, the description of what will be discussed in executive session merely says “the Berkeley Heights Board of Education adjourns to Executive Session to discuss matters related to XX”.

That’s some wonky descriptor there, Mr. Business Administrator.

Read More about BOE Agenda and Meeting Minutes