
Failed Attempt to Host A Night of Celebration and Honor
Amid a Sea of Declining Proficiency & Teacher Resignations, the District Falls Short in Trying to Look Like it Cares The Following is an Email I sent to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education on the 06/05/2023 Educator of the Year Awards: I don’t expect a reply, indeed, not an apology, but for those of you who are unaware of...

The BHPSNJ OPRA Disconnect
The District is taking steps to undermine one the few remaining avenues families have in getting accurate information…..and the BOE Majority is using dollars that should be going to classrooms to do it. The Custodian of School Records position remains, and Stephen Hopkins has been approved again for the job, along with an accompanying stipend of $12,000. The core responsibilities...

Message to all 2023 Berkeley Heights, NJ Candidates
BHCW will seek to continue helping the community make effective decisions in local elections. This year we wanted to reaffirm some of our ground rules and also present some changes that will take place. (1) As always, every candidate for office can publish content on our mediums (text, video, etc). This content has to be more than a campaign commercial and...

Natasha’s Notes on the 06/05/2023 BOE Meeting
There is a lot to digest after the 06/05/2023 BOE meeting and much of it is not sitting well. Teacher of the Year Awards Congratulations to all the teachers for this recognition, and a huge thank you for all you do. As a community member pointed out, was the cafeteria setting the best the administration could do for the presentation?...

06/05/2023 BOE Meeting: John’s Notes
Ms. Stanley Continues to Help The Public Understand the Board Majority’s “Logic” I’m going to highlight what I feel is the most critical interaction of the BOE Meeting after the Educator of the Year Awards. If you recall, last month, the BOE Majority blocked Dr. Foregger and Ms. Khanna’s request to have Dr. Varley explain the decline in rankings (read...

BHCW 06/04/2023 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Berkeley Heights This Week….. Online Newsletter PDF Version There are three ways to get BHCW content delivered to your doorstep: (1) Sign-Up for our weekly/bi weekly newsletter. This is the most popular option so far. Subscribers will get email with articles published for the time period in between. (2) Subscribe to our Substack which will deliver articles to...

06/05/2023 BOE Agenda : Laura’s Notes
Renewals and Big Salaries for the Usual Crew Top the List Dr. Greer, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Achievement, is having his contract renewed at an annual salary of $164,800. Ms. Kot, Business Administrator and Board Secretary – and advocate against OPRA, is having her contract renewed at an annual salary of $177,366. Administrators salaries are being approved. ...

The Berkeley Heights BOE Lawyer Addiction
How Much Money is Being Taken Away from our Classrooms? The skeptics out there, and those who agree with Ms. Stanley that there is nothing alarming about the districts legal bills, might be interested to understand the role a district/board attorney serves. It is also worth noting that each call, each email or text incurs a fee. So when items...

A Few More Snapshots Illustrating The BHPSNJ Decline
Email to the Berkeley Heights BOE on Student Growth and Climate Indicators I found the student growth information and looked at other indicators that might interest you, or at least two of you. The source for the information, again, is the NJ School Performance Reports. As per the NJ DOE: Student growth is a measure of how much students are...

Do They Even Care?
11 emails, 28 pages and No Response…. During the 05/11/2023 Meeting BOE Members Robert Cianculli, Joy Young, Angela Penna, Gale Bradford, and Pamela Stanley appeared confused when Dr. Foregger and Ms. Khanna asked the BOE to direct the Superintendent to discuss the Berkeley Heights Public School Declines and either voted “No” or abstained then throwing the issue into a committee...