Private Tour, Public Questions: Does Recreation Department Invite Lead Council & BOE to Violate OPMA?
The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) 10:4-7 clearly states: Legislative Findings and Declaration: “The Legislature finds and declares that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of public bodies, and to witness in full detail all phases of the deliberation, policy formulation, and decision-making processes of public bodies, is vital to the enhancement and...
Work Product from the $30k PR Consultant the Berkeley Heights Town Council Hired
We have to start by acknowledging that the new OPRA Custodian for the Township is exponentially better at handling OPRA requests than the District’s Business Administrator. John has submitted the majority of these requests—and let’s be honest, we all know how frustrating he can be to deal with. One of our latest OPRA requests sheds light on the high-priced Public...
Follow Up on Executive Orders and Police Training Connected to OSC Investigation
NJ21st recieved an email from a Berkeley Heights resident after the publication of Mr. Samson’s article that included all of the Executive Orders signed by Mayor Devanney in 2024 and 2025. These documents appeared to be the product of an OPRA request submitted on 02/01/2025. Executive Orders Signed from 2024 through January 2025 As a follow-up to our January 17,...
Is It Time for the District to Re-Evaluate Its Services from a Politically Entangled Municipal Government?
The current Agenda for the next BOE Meeting includes an SLEO Contract Amendment. In Berkeley Heights, the District pays the full $37.45 per hour for each Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO), and now the township is asking the District to divert even more funds from classrooms to cover additional costs like sick time and overtime pay along with an increase...
The OPRA “Opera”
An analysis of BHPSNJ OPRA Requests Over a Six Month Period OPRA, the Opera (or what feels like a never-ending charade) in which those who “abuse” OPRA, because of the strain it puts on staff are made out to be public enemy #1 while others file voluminous requests, ad nauseum, for what some could speculate to be political or personal...
Berkeley Heights BOE Committee Meeting Notes for May 2024
In 2024, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education voted to make all BOE Committee Meeting Minutes Publicly Available on the District Website. Here are quick notes on the 05/2024 Committee Meeting Minutes with links to the full documents. Finance and Facilities 05/29/2024 Highlights Surveys on Menu Items for Elementary School Students discussed Despite the decision not to increase Activity Fees,...
BHPSNJ 2024-2025 Tentative Budget
As a result of an OPRA request, BHCW received the complete 2024-2025 tentative budget. The fact that we got it prior to the meeting is an improvement from last year. The tentative budget represents an overall increase of ~$900,000 from the prior year which would represent a 2% tax increase. It appears that textbooks are getting a 25k boost this...
The $34,000 OPRA Request
On 08/2022 a resident made an OPRA request for legal bills between 5/20/21 and 5/20/22 on 08/2022 and the District provided overly-redacted bills that blocked out key information. A lawsuit with the Superior Court to obtain this information was filed on 10/22/22. Instead of providing this information, the District made the decision to engage in a lawsuit that spanned 18 months. The same attorneys who prepared and...
Child Safety is Being used as a Shield to Push through a Disturbing Policy Precedent
And Another Great Example as to Why OPRA is so Important… Before October 2023, the NJ Department of Education published the DRTRS summary report that anyone could access. Unfortunately, after multiple Berkeley Heights residents raised questions on the discrepancy in the number of Courtesy busing students reported to the state department of education and by the district last year, the...
Shauna’s Notes on the 03/18/2024 BOE Agenda- The Lack of Clarity on Courtesy Busing Continues
Why is getting straight answers on Busing so difficult? Following the presentation of the transportation consultant at the last Berkeley Heights Board of Education meeting, Berkeley Heights Community Watch requested information from the district. The request was for 1) all reports and analysis provided by the transportation company, 2) the rubric (mentioned multiple times during the meeting), and 3) the...
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