The 08/10/2023 Bill List – Another Concerning Snapshot

More questions about how District Funds are Being Used Arise…..

-Sai Akiri, 2023 Candidate for Berkeley Heights Board of Education

BHCW submitted the following OPRA request on 08/07/2023:

Please provide under OPRA and common law right to know the following documents:

1. Bill list for August 10, 2023 Board meeting 
2. Treasurer report for June and July 2023
3. Cash report for June and July 2023 
4. Bank reconciliation for June and July 2023
5. Outstanding checks report for June and July 2023

Note: Under OPRA immediate access is granted for bills.

There are some critical facts that families ought to be aware of when looking at this list:

The District paid out a whopping 35,000 to Attorneys in just one month’s report. The Cleary Law Firm received its payout in May but is showing up on the June report (21k). The Porzio Firm received ~ 8k, and Chaudry – who typically handles Special Education Matters, another 6k. Residents should remember that questions about the cost of the Superintendent’s legal fees for a violation she now admits to need to be answered. The District, namely the BOE, has yet to respond to requests that the Superintendent reimburse the District. We also have not received numbers regarding the cost of Ms. Stanley’s use of District attorneys in filing a claim against a fellow BOE Member. We have no clarity on the costs that followed in the defense of the alleged ethics violations against her and members of the BOE Majority in filing and approving the vote behind that action. The BOE President still needs to answer questions about an alleged Affirmative Action investigation involving the Superintendent after several emails from community members requesting confirmation and details.

Unlike other Districts or our Municipal Government, the Berkeley Heights Public School District does NOT publish this information. 

The Bill List is also improperly redacted. Redactions on the bills list are allowed only for students’ information, yet we see all employees’ names redacted, which violates OPRA. Public servant’s pay, and any reimbursement is public information. 

As we consider the controversy surrounding transfers and medical accounts earlier this year, the unanswered questions that remain on Courtesy busing, and the fact that we spend more on attorneys and administration than any of the other comparable Districts on our Dashboard (based on last year’s Budget analysis by BHCW) while having the poorest performance on the most recent DOE reports AND that the District is now redacting personnel information from what ought to be a public report- we are left with more questions on who exactly our 65 Million Dollar Budget is benefiting.  

Full Bill List and Other Requested Documents

Articles on the BHPSNJ Legal and Ethics Troubles

Articles on the 2023 Budget

Articles on Proficiency

Articles on Transportation

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