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...
BHPSNJ 2024-2025 Tentative Budget
As a result of an OPRA request, BHCW received the complete 2024-2025 tentative budget. The fact that we got it prior to the meeting is an improvement from last year. The tentative budget represents an overall increase of ~$900,000 from the prior year which would represent a 2% tax increase. It appears that textbooks are getting a 25k boost this...
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...
Follow Up on Teacher Concerns Regarding Summer Curriculum Writing Rates
I published an article before the 4/18/24 Board meeting regarding a sidebar agreement with the BHEA proposing a flat $50/hour rate for summer curriculum writing. (Sidebar Agreement Article) Several teachers had contacted BHCW unhappy with this sidebar agreement noting that curriculum writing has always been paid a per diem rate – a rate based upon a simple equation based upon...
2024 BHPSNJ Budget Survey Results Released
A New Acting Superintendent and New Finance Chair Deliver on Family Input and Transparency in Connection to the Budget While it was an imperfect survey, it was the first asking for family input into the budget process. Not only was there a survey, but the public obtained results without having to submit an OPRA request and then go to court...
Families on Both Sides of the Courtesy Busing Issue Need Our BOE To Work Together
Recently, a former BOE Member and proxy for Ms. Stanley on Social media accused Ms. Khanna of changing her positions within the context of Courtesy Busing, or – as he put it- this “child safety” policy. Again, let’s look at the facts behind this empirically thin argument. Here is another clip of Ms. Stanley arguing that we get rid of...
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