The Penna Bloc Shows A Crack
Laura’s Notes from the 03/30/2023 Budget Meeting The 3/30/23 Board meeting was a thing of beauty. People were passionate, and the Board majority voted in a way that reflected some glimmer of compassion for those who spoke. Okay, it had some embarrassing and dark moments. But we saw some resistance to the Administration, so I’ll take any movement in the...
Dipti Has Questions
This clip reviews Dipti Khanna’s questions and comments during the 03/13/2023 Budget Meeting. Here are some of the highlights (video at the end). Courtesy Bussing- Dipti questions the impact of removing bussing – the added impact of the decisions connected to this budget onto Berkeley Heights families and the increase in traffic on an already problematic traffic situation. OPRA Custodian...
How To Be A BOE Member During a Public Discussion of the Budget.
What a Discussion on the Budget Should Sound Like During this clip, Dr. Foregger asks pointed and relevant questions of the Business Administrator, who, for the most part, demonstrated a strong recall of the reasoning behind the numbers with a few notable exceptions. Legal Costs are skyrocketing, and the Business Administrator does everything she can not to mention the specific reasons...
the Budget, Stupid.
Berkeley Heights, NJ Should Go Back to Having a Public Vote on The School Budget You are part of a group of investors that provide a Company 60 million dollars annually. You hire a new CEO and CFO, and within a few years, the Company’s legal bills increase 88%, the quality of your core services is reduced (math proficiencies declining, kids...
Fiscal Cliff? Or Money to Burn?
Our financial issues have nothing to do with teachers or special needs students. At the most recent Board of Education meeting on February 9th, there were (as usual) more bits to be talked about that can fit into a single article, so the focus of this one is on the money (no pun intended). Our Business Administrator, Julie Kot, gave...
Where We Go From Here
“The First Order wins by making people think they are alone. We’re not alone.” —Poe BHCW has, for over a year, provided a space for deep, fact based discussion about local government – especially our BOE. I have never been shy about expressing an opinion, but I have never done it at this level. BHCW was born out of the...
BERKELEY HEIGHTS 2022 BOE ELECTION- CANDIDATE RESPONSES TO QUESTION 4
This is the last in a series of questions BHCW posed to BHCW Candidates. We received responses from Gale Bradford, Natasha Joly, Neil Hemman, Doug Grober, Sai Akiri and Dipti Khanna,. We would like to thank all the Candidates who responded to our questions throughout this series- taking the risk of putting their thoughts in writing for the public to...
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...
Equity.
Here’s some food for thought… I have reviewed the original presentation made by Melissa Varley to the Board of Education and public on April 8, 2021 and highlighted several areas in which the rationale behind the necessary realignment, redistrict and reconfiguration was addressed but have not actually been resolved or been given a long-term plan or projection. https://www.bhpsnj.org/cms/lib/NJ01001806/Centricity/Domain/4/Full%20Day%20Kindergarten%20Options%20FinalDraft%204-16-21.pdf Slide 3: Guiding Principles Provide...
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