This Week at NJ21st: More Debt in Berkeley Heights, Stanley’s Road Show Rolls On, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools Under the Microscope — and NJ21st Joins LION

May 24, 2025

The Money Bomb Keeps Dropping: In a week where the Township’s latest PR stunt involving waterfowl spectacularly backfired, Berkeley Heights residents were hit with another wave of debt approvals — pushed through with minimal discussion and the usual technical failures. We also published a revealing follow-up on the Fire Prevention Bureau that shows the Township still has loose ends to tie up. And one resident voiced his growing frustration over continued power outages and a troubling lack of communication.

Oh, Pam. Shauna gives a comprehensive overview of the most recent BHPSNJ BOE Meeting which landed with an interesting throwback to the bad ole days involving our favorite BOE Member, the Business Administrator – and (maybe surprising?) the new Superintendent.

Spotlight on Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools: After a question was raised on a local forum, we took a closer look at performance metrics for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District — and let’s just say, there are definitely some questions worth asking. Families in that community may want to start showing up with clipboards. Don’t worry, SPF — we’ve been there.

Yeah, We Bad: Despite being blocked from three politically controlled forums in Berkeley Heights and New Providence — for reasons still not entirely clear — NJ21st was just accepted into LION Publishers, a national network of independent local journalists while our subscriber list keeps growing. The whole “they’re just a blog” thing? Starting to sound a little desperate, isn’t it?

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