Some Important Loose Ends to Think About As We Begin the 2023 School Year

Sep 1, 2023

School Calendar, FDK, Lunch and Infrastructure

I have some things on my mind – not enough content for an earth-shattering article, but significant enough.

Without further adieu;

1. BHPS Calendar

I am skeptical that the overwhelming vote from parents and staff to start school was BEFORE Labor Day. Please find two staff members and two parents (not part of central administration, aka “the Untouchables”) who opted for this. In all seriousness, I’d love to hear the rationale. What a way to start the year on a sour note; I don’t know anyone excited to start this early! The real meat of my calendar woes goes deeper than the August start that begins with those tasked with making the calendar failing to converse with anyone outside their office walls.

Does anyone legitimately do any research, have conversations, or take the time to make informed decisions (insert laughter here)? Berkeley Heights Public Schools started on August 30. The reasoning was that the state recommends schools observe Juneteenth as a day off.

Recommendations are not requirements, as several other schools in our area are in session on this day, likely covering the history of the Federal Holiday. Furthermore, where is the consistency? Mountainside, with whom we share a high school – GL, public schools start Thursday, September 7. Families with students in high school start a week before their siblings. Union County Vocational-Technical School (UCVTS), which several Berkeley Heights children attend, starts school on Wednesday, September 6. Board Member Robert Cianciulli brought this information to the attention of the Board in the Spring, recommending we don’t march to the beat of our drummer when it comes to the calendar and that we are aligned with Mountainside Public Schools.

2. Full Day Kindergarten

Capacity is becoming an issue again. Remember when we were promised the reconfiguration of schools would alleviate and ultimately eliminate capacity issues at one school versus another?

N.J.A.C. 6A:32-8.3, an approved kindergarten maximum class size is 21.

We currently have at least one kindergarten class at MKM at the state maximum and a second class, out of three kindergarten classes total, at 20, one below the state maximum. I can not speak to all kindergarten classes in the district because I don’t physically have those numbers. But what is the plan, or is there a plan, for when housing units begin to rent/lease and new students move into our schools? The current enrollment does not allow for much existing growth. This was an issue MANY families in the community brought up as a reason to slow down reconfiguration – there is a strong chance that the plan we rushed to approve may need to change yet again.

3. Lunch

Families in Kindergarten are being asked to provide a blanket for students to bring back and forth each day (are we moving back to having them eat outside on towels? – anyone having COVID flashbacks – NO!!!), and apparently kindergarten students are eating lunch inside their classrooms because the cafeteria-gym settings to not yield space to adequately feed all of the students at the Early Childhood Centers.

I am also hearing from students and parents (who have had many years of experience at GL) that students sitting on the floor in the hallways has become common practice for freshman students to eat lunch. I am pretty new to being a GL parent and find this unacceptable. Why do we accept any of our students spending their school day sitting on floors?

Remember, we adopted a 69 million dollar budget for this year but seem to struggle when it comes to providing a normal (by definition here, I would include a table, a chair and the ability to consume a home or brought lunch for a scheduled time during the school day) lunchtime for some of our students (equity, anyone?).

The real question might be, does anyone even care to address this issue? I get it; it’s “just lunch” when we should be focusing on the critical stuff like academic achievement. But do you think kindergarten students being in their classrooms for, let’s say, 80% of their day – studying where they are eating their pudding, is healthy for their mental state? Or perhaps allowing kids to eat off the floor, because it’s ’the best we can do’.

I’m not a specialist in child development, but I’m a Mom, and this practice, which has become normalized, is unacceptable.

BHPS can do better for our students.

4. Infrastructure

Returning to and around our schools made me cringe. Schools were bursting with energy and excitement, but it was difficult to look past the dilapidated state in which most of our schools are. First and foremost, let’s discuss the blacktops!!!!

All students K-8 (truth be told, I’m not at GL in the mornings and have no idea what happens there) have a period of time before school where they are dropped off to wait until they are allowed to enter school. At the elementary levels, the students engage in some much-needed play before starting their days. All five of our schools, K-8, maintain blacktops (which double as recess play times for our four elementary schools) that are cracked, pothole-laden, and deteriorating. These areas, which BHPS maintains, are dangerous. Year after year, I am excited to see proposals for projects involving the resurfacing or overhaul of the blacktops at CMS, Mountain Park, Mary Kay, Hughes, and Woodruff. And yet, these projects get pushed to the side year after year for other projects. It is time, right now, to focus on these areas – gym classes and the primary area for recess play- to utilize them. The lack of attention to these areas at our schools is unfortunate – and I didn’t even dive into the interior of our buildings. This makes me question where all our budgeted facility money is going. Or what about ESSER funds? Why doesn’t our BOE or top Administration care to fix these problems that have been around for many years ? Or, is this like lunch at GL – we have looked the other way for so long that we have accepted the unacceptable?