Laura’s Notes on the 04/30/26 BHPSNJ Meeting – The Debate Over Admin Spending

Potatoes and Policies ruled the night at the 4/30/26 BOE meeting.

Coming off a first-ever trip to the national competition, the GLHS Robotics team presented at the meeting, reviewing the goals, highlights, history, and community outreach of the team. During public comment, a resident commented on the incredible accomplishments of the team, urging the District to recognize the success of the Robotics team just as they would a sports team — with a banner commemorating their achievements.

The Board adopted the final budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, noting that taxpayers wouldn’t feel the full impact of the referendum until 2027. Akiri attempted to make a motion to cut administrative fees by $175,000, effectively eliminating the second Vice Principal position at BHPS, but the motion failed.

Both student representatives also made budget comments, noting that the budget still doesn’t address how the District can and will better support learning, improve the student experience, and remove the burden on educators. They noted many teachers purchase supplies – like Costco bags of potatoes for science labs and other in-class learning aides – out of pocket due to annual cuts in subject areas and requested that the Board focus on putting dollars back into the classrooms.

Williams, from NJ21st, made remarks during the citizens hearing on agenda items, thanking the Administration and BOE for their work on the budget, but questioning a specific slide about how the District will “revive” as part of the budget’s future. Williams also commented on our District still being top-heavy, while recognizing that the District took the unfortunate, but important, step of making cuts in the right places.

Migueis, from NJ21st, also echoed Williams’ sentiments about the budget being a positive reflection of the focus of the Administration and Board, but cautioned that there is still plenty of work to be done and that a cold, hard look needs to be taken in regard to administrative spending. He also noted the Robotics team presenting at the meeting and reminded everyone that this is the focus of why we are all here. He encouraged parents to attend Town Council meetings to question why the Township won’t share PILOT revenue with the schools.

The topic of BHPS being “top-heavy” recurred many times throughout the night, with Stanley making the case that there is no credible proof of this statement and that we have six schools and therefore require more administrators. Feltre also made a comment about the “narrative” of BHPS being top-heavy, but noted the elimination of Dr. Cordero’s position was difficult and demonstrates the District’s commitment to ensuring students’ classroom experiences remain the focus.

Migueis, from NJ21st, responded to these comments comparing us to several other districts with more buildings than BHPSNJ that had lower per pupil costs in Administration and pointed to the reconfiguration decision that narrowed bands v. broadening despite declining enrollment and research that demonstrated more school transitions correlated to negative impact on academic performance….and more administrators.

During the Curriculum liaison report, Akiri noted that Mr. Kobliska and his team have generated a new CMS schedule that incorporates core subject areas into a student’s daily schedule. Unfortunately, no anticipated rollout date was identified; however, the proposed schedule will be made available to the public in the coming months.

We were so close to the end, and then came policy discussion.

While the Board got into the weeds with discussion on the policies up for first read, some important conversations were had. P0149 — Retiring Board Members — will go back to committee to be more clearly defined. P3324 — Right of Privacy — led to an in-depth discussion about students and staff taking photos on personal devices. Ultimately, both policies were approved for first read, and P0149 is expected to be seen on the next agenda with necessary revisions.

Stanley reported that the Strategic Plan had an action plan and the committee did not receive any feedback. However, Terrero commented that the Board was not given sufficient time to review and provide feedback, and urged Stanley to give her cohorts grace and understand that everyone has other things going on in their personal and professional lives. She noted that matters involving something as important as the strategic plan should be given ample time and not rushed.

Dr. Foregger asked if there was an update on Lower Columbia and commented that he read there was a $250,000 grant from Connell being accepted on the upcoming Town Council agenda.