
Berkeley Heights Superintendent and BOE Remain Silent on Nepotism and Busing
Questions that have been asked multiple times over the course of Months Remain Unanswered Below are two email chains from BOE Candidate Sai Akiri to the Berkeley Heights BOE on questions connected to the costs of the Superintendent’s Nepotism case and the Busing Controversy that represented hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. The email chain on the Nepotism...

Board of Education Turnover Continues in Berkeley Heights
Seven Board of Education members have decided not to run for reelection since Dr. Melissa Varley took the helm at BHPS -Written by an Educator in the Community According to “Union County Votes,” the official election website of our county, two Berkeley Heights Board of Education (BOE) members are not running for reelection this year. As of the filing deadline,...

Laura’s Notes on the 10/12/2023 BOE Agenda
The BOE Majority is Starting to Pour Concrete into the Pipes Before a New Board Takes Office ADMINISTRATION A: DISTRICT BYLAWS/POLICIES/REGULATIONS – FIRST READING How much of these policy changes are about the kids? My takeaway is that these policy changes are about self-preservation and keeping the power in the current BOE majority. Any organization that seeks to inhibit the...

Questions to The 2023 Berkeley Heights BOE Candidates – Question 2
The Second in a Series of Questions to the 2023 Berkeley Heights, NJ BOE Candidates The Courtesy Bussing issue appears to be yet another scandal under this administration and a costly one at that. Transportation has been extraordinarily problematic under this administration. What factors do you believe have fed into the multitude of issue connected to Busing in the last...

Berkeley Heights BOE Committee Meeting Minutes for August 2023
Below are the Board Committee Meeting Minutes BHCW received for August through an OPRA request. Committee meetings are different than closed sessions – what is discussed during these meetings can very well be addressed by the Board in public meetings. The argument against doing so by one BOE member has been that it would prevent the BOE from accomplishing as...
Berkeley Heights BOE Executive Session Minutes
01/2023 through 06/2023 Below is a link to Executive Session Minutes from 01/2023 through 06/29/2023. We may never know whether the contained redactions are appropriate. Although items related to negotiations once completed can be disclosed. We can reasonably guess that the negotiations listed in the minutes might be with the BHAA based on review of regular meeting agenda and minutes...

Another Great Month for Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri and Jacobs
09/14/2023 Berkeley Heights Public Schools Bill List Below is a link to the most recent Bill list approved by the BOE during the 09/2023 Meeting. Parents should ask how BOE Members can approve their own legal bills while denying a BOE member a defense on a largely defunct ethics case the BOE Majority was responsible for creating. This presents a...

Community Correspondence to the Board of Education – August 2023
There was no meeting in July, and no correspondence to the Board in July- much of what was provided to BHCW was written to the Board in June. The District habitually does not give responsive documents, so if you wrote to the Board of Education in July, please let us know. Also, the OPRA Custodian continues redacting his name and...

BHCW 10/01/2023 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Berkeley Heights This Week… The BOE Majority voted to change election policies, with the final vote slated for October – one month before the election. This week, the reasons for these changes appeared clear to BOE Candidates who wrote to the Council requesting that an unconstitutional ordinance be revoked. The Majority also silenced a BOE...

Letter From the Berkeley Heights Education Association To Dr. Varley and the BOE
Another Factor Impacting the BHPSNJ Teacher Retention Issues Under Dr. Varley While Schools across NJ are having issues keeping staff, BHPSNJ’s issue are a level above in yet another lottery no one wants to win. As BHCW has demonstrated in prior articles, we can make hard, straight lines on this issue to the many decisions made by this Superintendent and...