Julie Kot Continues to pretend the Budget is Classified Information

Access to the Budget Shouldn’t Be This Difficult.

-Sai Akiri

It’s March 29, 2023, almost two weeks since the preliminary budget meeting on 3.13.2023. 

The public saw the preliminary budget as a mere presentation for the very first time during the last board meeting. The presentation by the business administrator Ms.Kot should have been posted on the district website ahead of the meeting, but it was not. NO handouts were available at the meeting. 

Aside from the high-level presentation, no other information about the budget is available on the district website. The complete tentative budget was made available to several other residents and me under OPRA. So if the tentative budget is now a public document that can be released under OPRA, why is the district administrator yet to post it? What’s the rationale for pretending this document is a state secret? Ms. Kot stated she would post it the next day, weather permitting. 

Posting the budget on the website would have reduced the number of OPRA requests the District received for this document.

Why haven’t the Board president, Ms. Penna, and Vice President, Ms. Young (both on the finance and facilities committee), held Ms.Kot accountable for her public commitment at the last meeting? 

My email to the Board of Education explaining this and other concerns:

Related Content:

A QUICK AGENDA OVERVIEW FOR THE 3/30/2023 SPECIAL (BUDGET) BOE MEETING

FORMER BOE PRESIDENT JOHN SINCAGLIA COMMENTS ON THE BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET

NJ EDUCATION REPORT ON BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGET CONCERNS

COPY OF BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGET