No Names, No Budgets: Transparency Continues to Erode Under Feltre
When people ask for answers from their local government, they have a right to get them—clearly, directly, and without delay. That’s the whole idea behind New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). But in Berkeley Heights, trying to get even basic information from the public school district has turned into an exercise in frustration: dodged questions, generic email replies, and...
Laura’s Notes on the 06/05/2025 BHPSNJ BOE Meeting
While the June 5 “regular business” portion of the BOE meeting was arguably the shortest in recent memory, it also went the latest—slipping past midnight and potentially violating OPMA by extending into the early hours of Friday morning. The evening began with a lovely reception honoring Educators of the Year, retirees, and student representatives. But immediately after, the Board entered...
Correction to BOE presentation: Governor Livingston HS SAT Scores Rank Last of Seven Neighboring Districts
Berkeley Heights BOE presentation contradicts scores reported directly from the state -Written by a non-politically connected Educator in the Community At the March 18th, 2025 Berkeley Heights Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Interim Assistant Superintendent of Schools Mr. Dirk Phillips presented a report on district test scores from the 2023-24 school year including Advanced Placement (AP), PSAT, and SAT. Video...
7-District Dashboard: Proposed 2025 State Aid Numbers Come Out
2025 Proposed State Aid for Chatham, Millburn, Madison, Berkeley Heights, New Providence, Westfield and Summit Last week, Governor Phil Murphy delivered his fiscal year 2026 state budget address, which covers the 2025-26 school year. The budget calls for a record-breaking $12.1 billion in funding from the state to N.J. public schools. The proposed state aid below is calculated based on...
GPA Conversion Penalizing BHPS Students & Affecting College Admission?
Email from Daniel Brown, a Berkeley Heights Resident and Parent with Children in the District, to the Berkeley Heights BOE and Administration I am writing to express my concern about the 4.5-point GPA scale currently used at Governor Livingston High School and how it may be inadvertently disadvantaging students in the college admissions process. When colleges convert GPAs back to...
Year 1 Recommendations for New Superintendent Dr. Kim Feltre
Emphasis on listening to all stakeholders and academics needed that was not prevalent in the Varley administration -Written by a non-politically affiliated Educator in the Community On October 29th, 2024, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education (BHBOE) unanimously approved Dr. Kim Feltre as Superintendent of Berkeley Heights Public Schools (BHPS), effective January 1st, 2025. Below are five goals, with two...
The 2025 Berkeley Heights BOE Reorganization Meeting: Sanity V. Spectacle
The Berkeley Heights Board of Education’s reorganization was so dramatic it could qualify for an Emmy. Next time, perhaps we should aim for a Tony—because honestly, the only way these marathon meetings could be bearable is if the endless contentious debates were performed as a musical, complete with high-energy dance breaks from the Administration. But on a serious note: We...
How to Increase Core-Content Area Instructional Minutes at Columbia Middle School
Increasing minutes and daily practice, especially for math, while sustaining the music program -Written by a non-politically affiliated Educator in the Community For the past few years, the math program at Berkeley Heights Public Schools (BHPS), particularly at Governor Livingston High School (GLHS) and Columbia Middle School (CMS), has underperformed. This article will focus on instructional minutes at CMS and...
Rights and Wrongs of the 2025-26 BHPS Calendar
Tweaks that could have been made for academic benefits and professional development -Written by a non-politically affiliated Educator in the Community At the December 12th, 2024 Berkeley Heights Board of Education (BHBOE) meeting, Acting Superintendent Mr. Richard Nixon presented the 2025-26 school calendar, which was unanimously approved by all Board members. Based on discussion during the meeting and past BHCW...
Spring 2024 NJSLA Scores: How Did the 7-District Dashboard Perform?
Berkeley Heights has some strengths, some weaknesses; moved forward to middle-of-pack with neighboring districts NJ.com recently published an article on the release of spring 2024 New Jersey State Learning Assessment (NJSLA) results. According to the article, math and ELA scores ranged from 650 to 850, with a score of 750, equating to students meeting grade level expectations and a score...
nj21st.com (with the exception of featured images and logo) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
