BHCW BOE DEBATE RESPONSES #1, #2 & #3
BHCW has one more question related to the budget and Board functioning out to BOE Candidates due in a couple of weeks but residents have been asking where they can find candidate responses to “tougher” questions than have been asked in other formats. Below is a one stop shop of responses to three of the four questions asked of Candidates...
BEYOND STANDARDIZED TESTS AND METRICS
GL hosted its curriculum night this past week to welcome and inform the current 8th-grade class. The presentation was impressive, and the leadership team highlighted the 27 AP courses, STEAM electives, and various clubs and activities with the slick video. It was a great event, and everyone who put it together deserves credit. What stayed with me after the presentation...
NATASHA JOLY SHOULD BE ON THE BOE
One of my votes will be going to Natasha Joly, who I met while her husband was coaching my oldest daughter’s softball team last year. I got to know her more during the Berkeley Heights French Revolution. Natasha presents as poised, composed, and informed. The evidence of this exists on tape at BOE Meetings. On Zoom Meetings On Calls for...
ONE MORE REALLY LONG ARTICLE ABOUT PROFICIENCIES AND METRICS
BOE Members and Residents have been discussing the issue of proficiencies for some time now, and the same is true for metrics. Proficiencies were part of the discussion during last year’s election season. They came up again in the public debate surrounding the Budget earlier this year, and then again three months ago during a BOE meeting as a result...
SILENCE SPEAKS VOLUMES
The quest for a response to emails continues….. Over the last few weeks (and for the BOE, months) I have had my emails and requests for answers to questions not only go unanswered but completely ignored. This behavior is rude but also unacceptable, for elected officials and top school administrators to ignore parents. The administration holds its staff to a...
PEELING BACK DR. vARLEY’S POLICY RUSH
Given the number of policy updates in recent months during BOE meetings, and with a questionable decision about the League of Women Voters ability to host a candidate debate at Governor Livingston, Berkeley Heights parents expressed concern over the number of policy updates and their content. In response, during the September 22, 2022 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Varley had...
Sliding Grades and Proficiencies
The historical trend of Governor Livingston High schools Math proficiency scores shows a disturbing pattern, and Science also appears to be in troubled waters. Many parents in the community are questioning how we got here. The short answer – one reason we are here is that measurement, for whatever reason and for the longest time, has been incorrectly viewed as...
Goals, PerfoRmance, and Metrics
Metrics should be embraced, not feared There has been much discussion recently about goals, metrics, and student performance in the community as well as at the Board of Ed meetings. After reading through comments and listening to differing opinions, I wanted to clarify my view on the topic. I believe in the use of meaningful metrics because we need a way to...
Filling in the Local Media Gap on the 09/22/2022 meeting
‘Contentious’ is arguably the best way to describe the 9/22/22 Board meeting. While local coverage of the meeting was detailed, it failed to mention some meeting highlights I felt was necessary for truly and wholly understanding the scope of the contention and all-around loss of control. Pamela Stanley’s prepared speech sought to accomplish one goal: attack parents for increased legal...
THE QUORUM QUIZ
The last BOE meeting on 9/22 was unusual in many ways including how it concluded. Or did it conclude? Ms. Pamela Stanley continued to read her prepared speech even though the Board president and the Board attorney reminded her that the content of her speech did not follow the allowed agenda items. Two members of the board walked out when the...
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