A Disturbing Abuse of Power: How the Berkeley Heights BOE Budget Meeting Became the Mayor’s Playground
I’ll keep this short. For years, parents have asked the District to adjust the rotate-and-drop schedule to allow for core classes like math to be taught every day. During the February 14 Math presentation, Dr. Curtiss shared that tutoring support could be available—but only if the District chose and funded one of the new proposed math approaches. That left many...
Pam Stanley et al. Appeal School Ethics Decision: Students, Teachers & Taxpayers Will Cover Their Bill
When Robert Cianciulli stated, at the most recent Berkeley Heights Board of Education meeting, that the recent finding of ethics violations would be appealed, I had hoped he was just making noise. Sadly, it’s true. Faced with a decision by the Office of Administrative Law and the School Ethics Commission, Pamela Stanley, Robert Cianciulli, and the rest of the former...
What is Gale Bradford Thinking?
Pam Stanley Slated for Vote as Finance Chair Following NJ21st’s initial OPRA request for documents previously provided to community members under OPRA, a correspondence was revealed from a BHPS employee—whose name has been redacted—to the Board President and Acting Superintendent, urging action on a matter of concern. In this correspondence, a teacher alleges that Ms. Stanley willfully violated the Code...
School Ethics Commission Upholds OAL Ruling and Recommends Harsher Penalty for Stanley, Cianculli, Hyman, D’Aquila, Penna and Young
In May of 2022, Berkeley Heights board of education members Robert Ciancuilli, Pamela Stanley, Angela Penna, Michael D’Aquila, Joy Young and Jordan Hyman kicked off a series of decisions that would lead to three separate complaints of ethics violations being filed by residents. Over the course of nearly three years, these cases worked their way from the New Jersey School...
Another Stanley Circus
Setting the Stage….Or Ring Every quarter (or so), members of NJ21st submit an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to the Business Administrator (BA), asking for all records provided to OPRA requestors. Once requested, these records become public documents. At a recent Board meeting, certain statements were presented that can only be described as misinformation regarding OPRA requests. What’s particularly...
Distortions of Truth at the Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting
Shauna’s Notes of the 01/27/2025 BOE Meeting The Union County Superintendent, Daryl Palmieri again selected Gale Bradford to fill the role of President of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, and the meeting opened with Mrs. Bradford sharing a directive given by Mr. Palmieri that the board work together. A relatively straight-forward vote elected Dipti Khanna to the position of...
Considerations for Selecting a BOE President
For the second year in a row, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education has been unable to agree on election of a member to serve as BOE President. Last year County Superintendent Daryl Palmieri chose Gale Bradford for the position. With the choice in his hands again this year, a look at the tenure of Mrs. Bradford over the year...
Mathematics History and Learning Its Lessons – Part Two
The second in a series that every Parent, Student and Educator Can Read to Better Understand the Current American Math Problem and Concerns about “Flipped Classroom”. Since the turn of the century, though the ‘Math Wars’ may have quieted, there is still a fair amount of debate – in this country, particularly – about how best to teach mathematics to...
Shauna’s Notes on the 12/12/2024 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting Agenda
On the agenda for the Berkeley Heights Board of Education meeting tonight are readings of policies 0155, 0132, and 6421. These policies were discussed during the new business portion of the previous meeting, and there is a significant amount of contention about the Board’s approach. Look for more heated discussion tonight. There are a total of 11 HIB cases on...
Mathematics History and Learning Its Lessons – Part One
The first in a series that every Parent, Student and Educator Can Read to Better Understand the Current American Math Problem and Concerns about “Flipped Classroom”. I was recently sent a link to a comprehensive article about the history of mathematics in the United States. Despite being titled ‘A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century‘, the...
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