Community Voices: Berkeley Heights Deserves Clear Answers Before the Referendum Vote

-Darciena Christel

Hello! Thank you NJ 21st for all you are doing for transparency in New Jersey. I greatly appreciate your articles and posts!!!

As a long term resident and parent in Berkeley Heights, I have many questions about such a large referendum coming out for a vote, and why it is happening in March. Why not place it on the regular November ballot, give it time to move through the community, and ensure stronger voter participation so any support or concerns from taxpayers can be fully represented.

To be honest, it looks like the Board decided to include everything on its wish list but did not address the community’s top concerns. If the referendum is not going to cover those priorities, that could be acceptable if there were a clear plan to address them either separately or in parallel, rather than prioritizing parking lots.

I would love to see:

• A zero based budget for all departments that shows savings and a review of all spending
• What is being trimmed and how the district plans to manage resources more effectively overall
• What long term savings the capital improvements will create by reducing maintenance spending
• Whether any district reserves could be planned for upgrades next year rather than only repairs
• Whether overall resident costs will balance out if taxes increase for new investments but decrease for maintenance expenses the district says it is currently incurring
• Clarity on whether maintenance savings are real or simply being repurposed without being explained
• Whether the state tax return or match is actually lower than 40 percent

Who wrote that seniors would not be impacted, because that is clearly not true. Many seniors, including my father who is a Berkeley Heights resident, do not have frozen property taxes. The statement should be clear and specific that only qualifying seniors are eligible.

There is also a major concern that the referendum questions do not clearly specify what percentage the district expects to be reimbursed, and that lack of clarity makes the question misleading. It also exposes the district to potential legal challenges.

Residents trust the Board to present clear, factual, and specific information. You are responsible for education, so if some of these basic details are incorrect or unclear, it raises questions about the accuracy of the entire referendum package.

I would like detailed breakouts for every project and an explanation of the need and purpose of each smaller item, along with justification for grouping unrelated items together. Transparency requires providing a full list of requests and the reasoning behind them.

I would also like to see a phased plan with phased spending that manages our facilities and technology over time. 

Why pursue a single large proposal when enrollment is declining and long term planning would be more responsible. I understand that the district does not want to delay necessary work, but we must also consider whether we can afford this level of investment when Berkeley Heights already spends more per student than surrounding towns with higher ranked schools. With enrollment decreasing, costs per student will rise. Will the district be reducing spending to offset that.

There are so many questions with so little time.

As a long term resident who paid for private high school due to lack of support in our district, while paying taxes that fund a declining ranking for our public schools, I find this referendum continues a pattern of limited transparency, inaccurate statements, and lowered expectations for how our administration should operate.

Thanks for allowing this public forum!

Darciena 

Submitted directly by the author; content reflects their own views