Dr. Varley’s Nepotism Investigation
by Laura Kapuscinski Originally Published on TapInto Below is a fact based outline surrounding the allegations that Dr. Varley violated the District’s Nepotism policy. 6/7/2021: Dr. Varley asserts that the District posted a job opening for a Summer Library Intern at this time. No sources would verify, with factual evidence, this position’s posting outside of internal advertisement. 6/24/2021: Angela Penna,...
Berkeley Heights 2022 BOE Election- Candidate responses to Question 1
BOE Candidates were asked to respond to the following question, the first in a series of questions BOE Candidates will be asked from BHCW: “Many residents feel that Dr. Varley did not deserve an early raise or early extension. Many feel the majority of the BOE have not held her accountable for handling of the reconfiguration process, attempt to remove...
The Berkeley HeightS Public School District’s 12-month Path to Less Input and Engagement
This article was originally published on TapInto. Over the past 12 months, residents, especially parents, have witnessed the removal of avenues available to them to communicate with District leadership and influence policy decisions. This article is intended to serve as a timeline of events surrounding the removal of these avenues. After a reconfiguration process (April 2021) that led to an...
R 5530- Missed Opportunity: The recent decision to continue a harmful approach to the Substance Use issue in our Schools
The use of suspensions by schools is evidenced to create more academic problems and legal difficulties without any benefit to context. (https://bit.ly/3PZ2tZU) During the 03/09/2022 BOE Meeting, the District had an opportunity to tackle the very significant issue of Substance Use and Abuse through an evidence-based approach. This policy provided the District with not only an opportunity to effectively tackle...
Our First Newsletter
We are happy to present our first news letter. BHCW is a source of information and advocacy for Berkeley Heights, NJ. We are a collective that seeks to inform Berkeley Heights, NJ residents with policy updates about local government – with specific attention to our School District. Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3wyz2pA (please download and share with your neighbors)
The Berkeley Heights Public Schools French Controversy of 2022: A Written Record of Events
This article was originally published on Tapinto [https://bit.ly/38Hx25h] On Friday, April 8th, at 11:52 am (a few days before Spring Break), parents with children within the CMS French program received an email from their children’s French Teacher. The email informed parents that the trip planned for Quebec by CMS was in danger of being canceled and that the District was...
The Berkeley Heights Public Schools French Controversy of 2022: A Written Record of Events
On Friday, April 8th, at 11:52 am (a few days before Spring Break), parents with children within the CMS French program received an email from their children’s French Teacher. The email informed parents that the trip planned for Quebec by CMS was in danger of being canceled and that the District was moving forward with ending French as a language...
The Berkeley Heights Public School 2022 Budget Controversy: Synopsis
The article was originally published by TapInto Berkeley Heights as an Op-Ed on 05/13/2022. It’s been some time since I’ve updated this site with an article. We’ve been trying to provide information to the public while at the same time working to prevent the Superintendent and the BOE from making some unfortunate decisions. As a result, we’ve been more active...
Comments on Recent Data provided by the BH School District on Reconfiguration
Recently, the District presented an infographic that demonstrates that the vast majority of families impacted by the reconfiguration “Strongly Agreed” with the following statement: “The community benefitted from the school district’s reconfiguration to implement a universal full-day program.” What residents need to keep in mind that the survey only went to families who directly benefitted from FDK, which we all...
Union County Prosecutor investigations of the BOE: All the letters
On September 23rd BOE President Doug Reinstein read an opening remark in connection to multiple investigations by the Union County Prosecutor of the BOE’s actions in connection to reconfiguration. This item was not on the agenda and those he named in his remarks were not allowed to speak until the end of what was a very full meeting. This is...
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