Administrative Turnover Hurts Berkeley Heights’ Teachers

Since April 2023, six administrators have resigned, retired, or were forced out of Berkeley Heights Public Schools.

-Written by an Educator in the Community

Here is the list of experienced administrators that have resigned, retired, or were forced out of Berkeley Heights Public Schools (BHPS) in the past four months:

-Annie Corley-Hand, Mary Kay McMillin (MKM) Early Childhood Center Principal at BHPS since 2009; early retirement citing “unprofessional behavior, disrespect, and hostility from district level leadership” – i.e., Superintendent of Schools Dr. Melissa Varley (see letter)

–Michele Gardner, Director of Special Services at BHPS since 2012 (and serves in Supervisor/Assistant Principal roles at BHPS prior to 2012); classified as “[early] retirement” (while not yet 50 years of age) but taking a full time job at the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education (NJCIE)

–Dr. David Greer, Assistant Superintendent at BHPS for the 2022-23 school year only; departing to become Director of Human Resources at Westfield Public Schools

–Julie Kot, School Business Administrator at BHPS since 2021; leaving for Ridgewood Public Schools

-Marybeth Kopacz, Director/Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education and Intervention since 2020; classified as “[early] retirement” (while 60 years of age).

–Drew Ziobro, Mathematics Supervisor at BHPS since 2014; forced out due to (unnecessary) “administrative restructuring” and now Supervisor of STEAM at Roselle Schools

This all comes with Dr. Varley is looking for various other Superintendent jobs around New Jersey and even in Florida.

The questions surrounding Dr. Varley’s leadership should focus on the following: Why would Mrs. Kopacz, who came from a comparable role at Livingston Public Schools, leave BHPS after only three years? Why would Mrs. Gardner leave while having two members on the Board of Education (BOE) such as Angela Penna and Gale Bradford who are allies to Mrs. Gardner and the BHPS Special Services community? Please note that BOE President Mrs. Penna was a large contributor to bringing the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program to BHPS (instead of sending these students out-of-district) while Mrs. Bradford is a long-time BHPS elementary special education teacher and 2021-22 Teacher of the Year recipient. 

For the 2022-23 school year, there were four key administrators in the district who also sat on the dais at BOE meetings (as non-voting members): Dr. Varley, Dr. Greer, Mrs. Kopacz, and Mrs. Kot. Now, the latter three (or three of four Central Office admin team members) have departed as we are left with Dr. Varley and soon-to-be three new central office administrators. Dr. Anthony Giordano has been appointed Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Christine Siminerio has been appointed Director of Elementary Education and Intervention, and the Business Administrator role will remain on an Interim basis until further notice.

As for the other positions, the Supervisor of Mathematics position was eliminated and combined with the Supervisor of Science position for a new “Director of STEAM” position Mr. Dennis Dagounis (who is also new to the district as of fall 2022). The Mary Kay McMillin Principal will be filled by former BHPS Science Supervisor/GLHS Assistant Principal Mr. James Finley. The Director of Special Services position has yet to be officially filled.

Let’s put ourselves in a teacher’s footsteps. Imagine that you are a returning BHPS teacher – say, a special education teacher at MKM. In this scenario, you have a new Principal, a new Director of Special Services, and a new Director of Elementary Education and Intervention position. In other words, your three core administrators are all new.

Even if you are not a teacher at MKM or a special education teacher, say, you are a Reading Specialist or Math Interventionist/Specialist, you will need to adjust to the new Director of Elementary Education and Intervention position who may have a different (not better, not worse, but different) perspective than Mrs. Kopacz who held the position the past three years. 

If you are a math teacher, you do not have a math supervisor. 

In general, even for building-level, non-upper level administrators such as Principals and Supervisors, these administrators are tasked with handling the management styles of a new Assistant Superintendent (the third person to hold the position in three years and responsible for the evaluation of some Principals), a new Director of Elementary Education and Intervention, and co-Acting Business Administrators at the moment.

What non-educators must know is that consistent school administration is key to student success. Imagine having a new manager, director, and/or team leader every year or two? How would you feel?

The exodus of six administrators in four months, 45+ teachers over the past year (about 12% to 15% of BHPS teaching staff; Dr. Varley stated at the August 10, 2023 BOE meeting “In the past few months, we have had a great deal of retirements and resignations” at timestamp 53 seconds), and as of late, an Educator of the Year, must all be addressed by Dr. Varley and the current BOE.

BHCW allows for confidential articles from non-administrators of local public entities whose careers would be affected because of their efforts in informing the public. We have confirmed the source of this article, know their location and full name and have had face to face contact with the individual.

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