Hot Topics and noteworthy Board agenda items for 9/22/22
Here are the highlights to the agenda and attachments for the BOE Meeting tomorrow night. There are 199 pages of attachments in addition to the lengthy agenda – it’s a lot, so here’s the good stuff: ADMINISTRATION: Resolution A – District Policies – Study and First Reading P0163: Quorum; policy was updated in February 2021, as part of a settlement...
Political Leanings of Berkeley Heights
As a relative newcomer to Berkeley Heights, it wasn’t until I had been here through one or two election cycles that I noticed the typical national-level party split between Democrats and Republicans is quite different from how politics play out in Berkeley Heights. Politics and party are very easily understood in NYC. Everyone is liberal and everyone is a Democrat....
BERKELEY HEIGHTS 2022 BOE ELECTION- CANDIDATE RESPONSES TO QUESTION 3
Since our last publication on responses to questions from BOE Candidates, several Candidates have dropped out of the race. Responses to our questions have gotten a good amount of traction and positive feedback from members of the community. Of the current field, we received responses from Natasha Joly, Dipti Khanna, Gale Bradford, Neil Herman, Sai Akiri and Doug Grober to our...
FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL
Let us talk about the busing challenges that our District faces this year. Busing children is among the essential services most school districts provide their students. Working parents rely on bus transportation by the school district to manage their schedules and have the peace of mind during pick-ups and drop-offs that their children are being transported safely. Children make new...
DR. VARLEY, HIGH PRICED ATTORNEYS AND THE ANGRY SIX vs. SAI AKIRI
Merely weeks after being elected, Ms. Akiri attempted to fulfill one of her primary campaign promises on accountability and transparency by encouraging the BOE to follow their policies on interviewing an attorney-something the District has failed to do in almost two decades. Many residents were disgusted by the actions of the current firm for the following reasons: 1) Their defense...
7 months + 22 questions
I know the majority of the Board would rather I lose internet access indefinitely. Instead, their tactic is just to pretend my emails don’t exist (yes, this literally happened with an OPRA request – “oh no, it WAS in spam, can you believe that?” No, i don’t believe anything anymore). I like to ask hard questions, like Sai and Tom...
PAMELA STANLEY APPEARS TO CONFIRM THAT ANGELA PENNA VIOLATED ETHICAL STANDARDS
In an incredible turn of events, Ms. Stanley appears to confirm that Ms. Penna may have in fact, violated Ethical standards in connection to allegations that Ms. Penna was electioneering at Woodruff. N.J.S.A 18A:12-24.1(d) states: “I will carry out my responsibility, not to administer the schools, but, together with my fellow board members, to see that they are well run.”...
PARENTS CONCERNED ABOUT BOE CANDIDATE ELECTIONEERING ON SCHOOL GROUNDS
A parent emailed the BOE requesting clarification on District Policy concerning electioneering on school grounds and forwarded the email to BHCW for publishing. The email concerns Ms. Angela Penna and asks 4 questions about the BOE Vice President (who is running for re-election): “1. What was Angela Penna, who is running for re-election, doing inside and outside of William Woodruff...
Board approved instagram for Family engagement
Anyone else miss the exclusive invitation to be part of the ever-engaging Instagram account of Dr. Varley? This spectacular piece of social media was Board approved to keep you feeling like you are part of the community. What has been made all too clear to me, and other like minded, intelligent folks, is that the person running the show in...
HIDING BEHIND SMILING STUDENTS AND POSITIVE NEWS WON’T SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS
Since the District shut down comments on most of their social media platforms, one will notice that there has been a steady stream of pictures with smiling children and positive news. Nothing about the multiple ethics complaints. Agendas and attachments for BOE meetings remain voluminous (taking a page from our Business Administrator), and families are restricted to three-minute one-directional statements...
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