Budgets, Bonds and the CMS Sports Park (fka as the Turf Field, Natural Field, Sports Complex, Project)

The newsletter this week is massive as we covered budgets, meetings, and the ongoing drama with what is now being referred to in Berkeley Heights as a sports park.

Starting at the state level, John provided an overview of what to expect with the state budget hearings that continued this week as education took center stage. He also covered labor and the Cherry Hill OPRA lawsuit against Journalist Ben Shore.

Moving onto regional coverage, we finished up our preliminary budget analysis on two more municipalities on our dashboard after receiving full budgets for Cranford and New Providence along with an edit to the Berkeley Heights analysis due to 11th hour changes they added prior to the meeting.  You can see the full dashboard here.

Moving onto the locals….

Laura provided an update to the ongoing saga connected to the CMS Sports Park with a focus on funding, permits and public notice.  You can review the full body of coverage on the CMS field here.

We covered the New Providence Town Council agenda for the meeting that occurred this past week, and we covered a couple of transparency gaps residents can ask about. Berkeley Heights has its Council Meeting next week and they got the agenda out early – another bond and changes to an ordinance are probably the main items here.

Moving to BOE Meetings, John covers a Summit Agenda packet with little to no back up and Laura handles Berkeley Heights. 

Shauna gives an update on some welcome changes regarding grade 8-math that parents have been hoping for and John covers more good news on the BHPSNJ budget side.

We end with a Community Voices from Eliza on Randolph as a case study for the accountability issues plaguing Districts throughout the state; ending with a call for NJ DOE action.

Top Three Articles for March…

Luxury Living, Boutique Retail and the Quiet Erasure of Working and Middle Class NJ

NJDOE’s Ghost Deliverables: No Evidence for Adaptive Test Accuracy One Year into Rollout

928 Units and a $16.6 Million Bill- Monday’s Berkeley Heights Council Meeting