Mayor Devanney’s Response to Resident Concerns on Proposed OPRA Reform
In this clip, Mayor Devanney responds to my concerns regarding OPRA reform. The Mayor’s response does not address the specific concerns of the letter connected to legislation proposed by Assemblyman Danielsen that would, in fact, impact residents and journalists. I also believe it overstated the cost and work involved in automatically making documents public – especially when you consider the...
The Unredacted Detailed Budget That Some of Our BOE Members Have Not Seen
2023-2024 Unredacted Detailed Adopted Budget- Berkeley Heights Public Schools According to confirmed sources within the District neither the previous Business Administrator, Finance Chair Joy Young or Board President Angela Penna circulated the unredacted detailed adopted budget for school year 2023-2024 to the full BOE. In other words, this would be the first time some BOE members have access to this...
Mayor Devanney Clarifies CMS Field Discussion Between Rec Department and BOE
We will be posting about the BOE Agenda later today but I wanted to share this update. I received clarification from Mayor Devanney regarding the CMS/BOE Field discussions in response to an email I sent the Town Council and BOE surrounding the process on this issue. 2023 Candidates for both bodies were cc’d on the email. This article will be...
Labor Day Tunes
One of the most painful posts I have ever had to put together I tried to get everyone on the team to participate, but Shauna is one of a handful of people with a wrong opinion of Bruce Springsteen, so the whole thing turned into an argument with her. Eventually she gave in and gave me her list but could...
One Step Closer to Oceania
Security Theatre Took Another Aggressive Leap Forward in Berkeley Heights Public Schools This Year If you have yet to catch up on this issue, the District voted to extend its contract with the Police Department for another five years in a rushed Special Meeting during the Summer. Special meetings are meant to be held for urgent matters or emergencies – the shared...
What We Can Do To Reverse The Berkeley Heights Declines In Math, Science, And ELA Part 2: Evidence-Based Decision Making
The Second in a Series of Articles on How Berkeley Heights Can Repair the Damage under Dr. Varley’s Leadership Since BHCW’s analysis of the Berkeley Heights School District’s declines in Math, Science, and English came out, I have had many conversations with different parents, teachers, and other school staff in the community on how to reverse them. In the second...
Addressing the BOE Majority Narrative on the Busing Issue
The BOE Majority narrative is that the reasons behind the secretive process on who gets free busing, who has to pay and who gets nothing connect to safety. Here are the facts: (1) During the reconfiguration, the District went on and on about how there were no hazardous roads in town – even as parents wondered out loud as to...
John’s Notes on the 08/10/2023 BOE Meeting Part III
On the NJGPA Portion of the 08/10/2023 BOE Meeting At the last BOE meeting, residents might have gotten a different impression of the District’s proficiencies than reality. That may be because the District was required to present on the NJGPA, which only tracks rising seniors. BHCW has been reporting on data on all grades in all schools within the District. The reason I bring this...
At This Point We Need to Ask Difficult Questions About the Busing Game
Something feels really wrong about the Busing Issue and We Should ALL Demand Answers Before I get into this I want to be super clear that my family does not use Courtesy or Subscription Busing and that if we did I would feel just as strongly – because at this point this whole thing stinks. I also had most of this...
After 17 Years of Service -Technology Coordinator Resigns from BHPSNJ
Another Loss for the District Another note for tonight’s agenda- Mike Skara – Technology Coordinator – has resigned after 17 years with the District. It is yet another departure in what can reasonably be considered a bleed in a District that appears to be in chaos. This resignation occurs amid accusations of a hostile work environment by a former long-time...
nj21st.com (with the exception of featured images and logo) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
