School Ethics Commission decision Involving Five BOE Members Moves Case to Office of Administrative Law
Motion to Dismiss filed by BOE Attorney Rejected In It’s Entirety by School Ethics Commission At a meeting of the New Jersey School Ethics Commission (SEC) on October 17th, a decision was rendered on one of the ethics complaints filed against several members of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Although some residents would have you believe that a formal...
Update On SEC Matter Involving Superintendent
Earlier today I emailed the Board of Education with regard to the ethics complaint filed against Dr. Varley surrounding allegations of Nepotism. BHCW became aware of this earlier this year when the parent who filed the complaint informed BHCW that the attorneys representing Dr. Varley (board attorneys) were attempting to block her access in a meeting with the OAL Judge...
Reset the Board of Education
With Berkeley Heights elections coming up in just a few weeks on Nov 8, I have been following the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Recently it has been a chaotic and dysfunctional mess. The majority of the Board members have had ethics complaints filed against them from numerous parents. In addition, Pam Stanley, being funded by the Berkeley Heights...
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...
Co-Teaching 2 different sections of Italian to 28 students IS acceptable…according to the district!
I received a response to my email regarding the unfavorable conditions being endured by 8th grade students (and single teacher) in Italian. You can read it in full below. Reasons provided why this practice IS reasonable and acceptable are: It’s been happening like this for over 23 years; It’s the only way to keep Italian (like French, or, it seems,...
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...
Advocating for Equitable Education for ALL
We’ve heard the word ‘equity’ used in at least a dozen different contexts over the last few years. I’m not quite sure what the district defines as equitable because it seems to be the “go to” phrase to support any new initiative – who can argue with equity? I would define ‘equity’ as being synonymous with ‘fairness.’ When it comes...
The Death of a Campaign
When they were building T-4 in the JFK airport, I had the opportunity to ensure our new facilities met standards and labor requirements for our workers. Eight leaks sprung in the new lounge and administrators’ offices four months after taking occupancy. There were no political platforms to leverage. Most of us just rolled our eyes when we saw the garbage...
People Before Politics
After reading the recent responses by Jeff Varnerin and Manny Couto on TAPinto, it is clear that politics takes precedent over people during election time. Both candidates also took the opportunity to disparage our Township Administrator, an employee and resident of the township – not an elected representative. Using the power of holding an elected office, with multiple outlets to...
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