It has come to my attention that a post is circulating on the internet which involves an email from Julie Kot, BHPS Business Administrator, to Melissa Varley, BHPS Superintendent.  The date of this email was 10/26/22 at approximately 3:45PM.  The subject of this email was about “wasted funds” on a hotel room for a BOE Member who was unable to attend a conference due to an emergency family health matter.

I have written previously about OPRA and how this district deals with requests. 

To refresh your memory, a request must be submitted and a response is expected to be delivered to requestor within a 7-day statutory period. 

It has been my experience, and the experience of countless others, that these responses take a minimum of 7 days, at which point Julie Kot, the records custodian, requests, due to staff shortages, an extension to remit responsive records. 

It is my opinion, based on the district’s history with production of OPRAs, that this email and its subsequent posting all over social media, within 6 business days of the email being sent to 2 internal BHPS staff members, was a set-up. 

I will call your attention to a similar matter that occurred earlier this spring when a private resident submitted an OPRA request for meeting minutes, within hours, from a meeting where those minutes misrepresented a board members comments, and received said request within 48 hours. 

The district appears to be engaging in a dangerous game when the perception, based on available credible evidence, points all fingers to the district administration colluding with political opponents for a perceived preferential outcome with the election but a few days away.

As for this BOE Member having posted on her social media campaign page during the family crisis – it is pretty common knowledge that facebook allows posts to be made in advance.

The good thing to come out of this is that we got to see Sai respond to this directly and factually.  Quite a contrast to how other BOE Members who hide behind proxies behave.

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