The Real Story on How the January Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting Fell Apart
Nothing occurs in a vacuum. The chaos that happened at the most recent Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting was set in place well before any BOE member stepped through the Governor Livingston cafeteria door and, as mentioned in the intro I wrote about Melissa Varley’s letter to staff, it started in the District’s Central Office. There is no longer any question...
Melissa Varley’s Spin on the BOE Reorganization Meeting Highlights How This All Got Started
In the email below, sent to BHPS Staff, Dr. Varley ignores the machinations of her own office in setting up last night’s meeting for failure. She ignores the fact that if ANY member of the Penna bloc (a phrase that I don’t like, but is all too fitting) were honestly interested in working toward solutions, a consensus could have been reached last night....
Ho, Ho, Ho: Laughing All the Way
The Rules Surrounding Transparency Continue to Not Matter…. I recently wrote about an exchange involving my own OPRA request, and I have received more information about how OPRA requests have been handled by our District from other residents. In short, residents are at the mercy of the Custodian of Records and/or the Business Administrator, and they have little recourse with...
Shauna’s Notes on the 12/14/2023 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting
Gaslighting On the RFP, More Power to the President, Still No Answers on Legal Spending and Board Correspondence Now Requires Gate Keeping The Superintendent’s Report led immediately to the Resolution and Congratulations to the GL Girls Volleyball Team on their second sectional state championship! Recognition was also given to Joy Young and Robert Cianciulli for their service as board members,...
Board Games: Not What We Had on our Holiday Wish List
Questions surround recent board decisions and superintendent recommendations… The Berkeley Heights BOE may be taking advantage of having a new Business Administrator in place, who has not yet had time to review past BOE actions, or they may merely be doing what they do, which is ignoring any and all policy, law, guidance and public comment with which they disagree....
Role of BOE Members and the Current Race Against Change
The current majority can embrace the benefits of a split Board instead of working feverishly to maintain control. During a recent Berkeley Heights Board of Education meeting, board member Robert Cianciulli appeared rather concerned about having a “4-4 board”. The implication here is that board members would no longer vote in a bloc, but would instead have differing opinions that...
Board Goals – A Chance to Make a Positive Change
Shauna’s Notes on the 11/02/2023 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting At a special meeting on November 2nd, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education met to set goals for themselves as a governing body. Attending were all board members except Joy Young, the interim Business Administrator, and New Jersey School Board Association (NJSBA) representative Patricia Rees. After an opening presentation by Ms....
The 48 Hour Rule
Is this new policy simply another mechanism designed to restrict BOE Members who want change from expressing an opinion? This change to BOE Policy 0164 requires that any new business be brought to the Board’s attention at least 48 hours before being brought up at a public meeting. According to Board President Angela Penna, it was advanced to help ensure...
More Conflicts of Interest, More Hypocrisy and More Cash for Giacobbe
At the last BOE meeting during New Business, Dr. Foregger began to make a motion, saying, “I move to continue indemnification of Sai Akiri for her legal expenses…”, at which point both Angela Penna and BOE attorney Frances Febres erupt in a frenzy of effort to keep Dr. Foregger from continuing to speak. Frances tells him, “Dr. Foregger, you are...
All You Do is Complain
Over the course of the last two weeks this statement has reared its head yet again, along with the similar sentiment of ‘you never bring up the good things we do’. Admittedly, there has been a lot of anger on display over the past year, particularly as relates to the BOE, but it wasn’t always that way. In an effort...
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