NJ21st 06/02/2024 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week’s newsletter starts with a packed and significant 05/30/2024 BOE Meeting that saw the appointment of a new member to the Board of Education, significant approvals connected to programming and staffing, and proposed changes to impactful policies. We move on to another pretty funny (or sad) OPRA...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/30/2024 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting
Without any prior notification, the zoom access for the 5/30 BOE meeting allowed for remote participation. However, the new version of Zoom does not let attendees see who else is on Zoom. Regardless, this is a major step in allowing for stakeholder involvement. Presentation of District Goals with all Administrative members present. Of the presenters worth noting, Mr. Hopkins spent significant time discussing his role in...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/30/2024 BOE Meeting Agenda
Board Candidate Interviews, Athletic Trainer and Heavy Investment in New Behavioral Service on the Agenda The Acting Superintendent will present the district goals following the student representatives’ report. The highlight of the night will be the interview with board candidates. This list has not been made public, but all candidates who submitted a resume and letter of interest will be...
Proposed Changes to Policy 3211- Code of Ethics
Another Policy Item on the 05/30/2024 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting Agenda Since every political and special interest in town doesn’t like our site – why not just bring up the teachers’ union? The main change to this policy involves language that appears to indicate that the only courses of action that can be taken concerning violating the code of ethics...
05/30/2024 BOE Agenda Notes on Proposed Changes to Policy 2411- Guidance Counseling
The first item of concern for me in the proposed policy is the removal of language that: (1) Indicates collaboration between the guidance office and teaching staff (2) Reaffirms the necessity of having licensed/certified guidance and counseling staff (3) Assures services are available to all students from pre-K through Senior Year Old Policy New (draft) Policy The policy...
John’s Notes on the Berkeley Heights 05/30/2024 BOE Meeting Agenda
Policy 0167- Public Participation in Board Meetings Before getting into this specific policy, the policy documents up for review do not contain the term “Draft” on them. Not all document changes (from the old policy) are indicated in bold. This can lead to a lot of confusion and makes it harder for the public to understand how the proposed policy...
NJ21st 05/26/2024 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. We start our newsletter with a brief recap of the year and our reasons for continuing this year. This week, we saw some incredible narratives spun in the community about the Superintendent Search and revisionist history on votes connected to Mr. Nixon’s appointment as Acting Superintendent. Our newsletter...
Support Positive Change-Ignore the Desperate Narrative
Regarding Berkeley Heights Board of Education Helen Gabara There is a lot of talk from the same voices that supported the prior administration attempting to resurrect their candidate’s chances for election. These voices include members of special interests and former council members trying to twist and spin the New BOE’s efforts on the Superintendent search. Here is a fact-based, black-and-white...
Laura’s Notes on the 05/20/2024 BHPSNJ BOE Meeting: Public Comments
You can tell when election season in Berkeley Heights is approaching, residents come out and make their presence known by their attendance and participation at public council and Board meetings. Participation in local government, like voting, is a privilege we all have, and it contributes to a healthy, transparent, and effective democracy. I have seen a pattern and can report...
Laura’s Notes on the Berkeley Heights 05/21/2024 Town Council Meeting Agenda
Update at 5:32 p.m.: The Proposed Salary for the Chief of Police Position is $216,300 – the contract is still in draft form. The Town Council Meeting will occur tonight, Tuesday, May 21 at 7:00PM The meeting will start with a conference session dedicated to having an affordable housing update, followed by a presentation from FACT (the Union County Care...
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