Resident Writes To Board On Traffic & Safety at Woodruff
-Cathy Marshott In the last BOE meeting much focus came from the feedback of about 10 parents in connection to courtesy busing and high school students. What many parents don’t realize is that there is a severe need for enhanced bussing in our middle, elementary and K-2 schools. The decision to lower subscription busing costs for families will help everyone....
The Good, the Bad, and the Less-Than-Attractive: 9 Recent Events
Let’s start with the bad, ‘cause I’m that kind of person. (My husband has at times referred to me as the angel of doom.) 1. Public name-calling. It’s okay to have differences of opinion; healthy, even. What’s not healthy is taking to a public forum and quite literally name-calling. Even worse when that name-calling is coming from one of the...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/07/2024 BOE Meeting Part 2: Budget, Staff and Contracts
What should have been a focused Budget adoption meeting of the Board of Education turned into another marathon, with tensions boiling over. We have published content on the transportation and bussing issue ad nauseam, so this meeting recap will not address any of those concerns or discussions. The budget was passed with all members voting in support of the 2024-25 proposal. Dipti Khanna,...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/07/2024 BOE Meeting Part 1: Transportation & Bussing
Ms. Bradford introduced a motion to reverse the decision from the last meeting in which the Board approved only Mandated and Subscription bussing. Ms. Akiri called her out as she had not provided 48-hour notice of this motion before the meeting, per Board policy. The Board attorney allowed the vote to happen. The motion failed with a 4-2 vote. (Mr....
The New BOE Majority is Turning Things Around, and the Party Machines Are Getting Nervous
I am writing a lot this week but have more to say than usual. If all you’ve been paying attention to is the noise on the forums and theatre in Council meetings, you would have missed a few significant developments. With a new majority in place within the BOE, some significant changes that will benefit families have arisen: (1) Budget : For...
New Information Leads to Questions Surrounding List of Roads Presented by the Policy Committee
BHCW received information from sources within the District that: (1) Other than the Feb 26 presentation and the sample rubric, there are no other documents that have been shared with the Board (2) There is NO email communication with the rubric from transportation consultants. (3) There was NO FINAL REPORT that ranked the 265 streets that the Board could review or, based on the latest...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/07/2024 Berkeley Heights BOE Agenda
2024 Budget, Busing, Administrative Positions on the Agenda for Tuesday SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT The resignation of Angela Penna from the Board of Education BUDGET The final presentation and adoption of the BHPS budget will occur. The total 2024-25 budget is $61,658,566. Following the presentation, a public hearing on budget items only will occur. ADMINISTRATION* F. Approve Appointment of Interim Superintendent of...
Parent Letter to Board of Education on Zoom Access
The following is an email provided to BHCW from Berkeley Heights Resident and Parent Michael Leblond to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education on the 04/15/2024 Meeting. Dear members of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, I read about the meeting this past Monday night, the actions taken by the Berkeley Heights Board of Education both astounded and disappointed as...
Laura’s Notes on the 04/24/2024 BOE Meeting
4/24/24 BOE Meeting Recap Mr. Nixon is proving to the community what many already knew – he is an effective, mindful and respectable leader. It was a productive, albeit long, meeting with healthy civil discourse that, for the most part, stayed on topic. Jordan Hyman and Angela Penna were absent from the meeting. Budget Presentation and Discussion The BA, Asst....
The $34,000 OPRA Request
On 08/2022 a resident made an OPRA request for legal bills between 5/20/21 and 5/20/22 on 08/2022 and the District provided overly-redacted bills that blocked out key information. A lawsuit with the Superior Court to obtain this information was filed on 10/22/22. Instead of providing this information, the District made the decision to engage in a lawsuit that spanned 18 months. The same attorneys who prepared and...
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