Patricia Robertson
I am writing to express my support for Natasha Joly for the Berkeley Heights Board of Education (“BOE”). While I originally wrote this letter in support of Ms. Joly for last year’s BOE election – one year later Ms. Joly remains steadfast in her commitment to education and continues to leverage her knowledge of key issues to drive important dialogue between the BOE and community for the benefit of Berkeley Heights students. As I remain confident that she will be an asset to the BOE, I offer my original letter once again in support of this excellent candidate.
I based my comments here upon what Ms. Joly said at the League of Women Voters (“LWV”) BOE debate and at BOE meetings, written responses to Tapinto questions, and a personal conversation I had with Ms. Joly after she promptly responded to my introductory email.
Introduction to Ms. Joly
I first heard from Ms. Joly at the LWV BOE debate. While several candidates offered helpful solutions to challenges facing our district and would be assets to our BOE, in my opinion, Ms. Joly led the pack of the best BOE candidates.
The debate underscored the importance of this election and prompted me to attend the next BOE meeting. There was Ms. Joly in person, asking community-minded questions; when I revisited previous BOE meetings on YouTube I discovered that Ms. Joly has been present, engaged, and asking community-minded questions for months. She is committed to improving education for Berkeley Heights students.
Ms. Joly’s Background
While a candidate’s education is certainly not the only criterion to consider, it is worth noting that Ms. Joly‘s educational background is impressive. After immigrating to the United States, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. She now serves as a Director at an international bank.
As a parent of two children in the Berkeley Heights school system, she is deeply and personally invested in the performance of our schools.
Why I am supporting Ms. Joly:
Having observed her thoughtful responses, professional and calm demeanor, and metrics-driven ideas, I believe Ms. Joly would:
- Guide the BOE to more productive discourse with both the Administration and the community,
- Facilitate a more nimble and transparent approach to the District’s process of setting goals and measuring progress, thereby fostering more accountability,
- Provide insightful recommendations and feedback leading to more detailed and effective strategic plans.
Here’s why I think so:
Civil Discourse and Community Engagement
I was pleased to hear Ms. Joly comment on the need to “bring back respect” to the BOE meetings. Agreement among all is unlikely, but mutual respect is a must.
Given the new BOE policy precluding parents from asking questions via Zoom, despite the investment in new equipment and the obstacles to in-person attendance facing many parents, it is more important than ever to elect a candidate who doesn’t just permit stakeholder participation, but seeks it out.
Ms. Joly stressed how important it is to “solicit feedback from all stakeholder groups” and that “parents need to have a voice at meetings.” Likewise, Ms. Joly emphasized the knowledge of our District teachers and the necessity of including their views in educating BOE members. She observed that many of the people involved “are smart, have opinions and valid ideas that need to be considered.” I found her recognition that “none of us know everything” to be a humble and inclusive approach to problem solving.
Solving problems, adding value, & providing accountability – using data and metrics
For anyone who has listened to Ms. Joly or read her answers to questions, you will likely have noticed that she is keenly focused on data and metrics. In my opinion, it’s not just because she is highly skilled in data analysis, it’s because she sees the opportunity to use metrics to set goals, measure progress or deficiencies, create accountability, and identify insights and thoughtful recommendations. I believe this could help our District better identify what’s working well and where we face challenges so that we can adjust the details of our strategic plans accordingly, in real time. The best schools and the most successful organizations are using data in this way – Ms. Joly can leverage her skills to help elevate the Berkeley Heights School District to be even more competitive.
For example, at the LWV debate Ms. Joly addressed learning gaps, explaining that “it’s very difficult to understand where the gaps are if you don’t have the data to measure them” and “we know that we receive funds that are meant to address that learning gap and I don’t have clarity as to exactly how those funds are being used, what programs are being put forth or how we are measuring progress… The data is important to see, otherwise how will we understand what we need to address?” As part of that conversation, Ms. Joly also referenced leveraging that data for students at every level, astutely recognizing that “success looks different for different students.” These observations really hit home for me. I know many are deeply concerned about the learning gap; Ms. Joly’s ability to interpret key metrics can help us address it.
Ms. Joly also supports making this macro level information (excluding private information) available to all stakeholders including parents, residents and taxpayers. This is an excellent idea as it would allow stakeholders to better understand our District’s plans and progress, enabling us to hold our administration, BOE and the District accountable for progress against those goals. Perhaps more important, this helps eliminate stakeholders’ frustration in continually having to ask for information to which they do not have access. Instead, Ms. Joly’s suggestions would keep the focus on how we can use the data to help students at every level, understand why the District fell short on a particular goal, and enable us to further leverage successful programs, so we can keep getting it right.
Putting it all together – what’s the PLAN?
It is my impression that questions to the Berkeley Heights Administration about “how” we will achieve a certain end goal are often answered with reference to interim goals. But how do we meet those goals? Ms. Joly’s point is that the interim goals are not, themselves, “the plan.” Ms. Joly has emphasized the need for the District to have and share the (appropriate) details of its plan to meet those goals. This, too, promotes buy-in from, and partnership with, key stakeholders. Ms. Joly’s steady focus on ensuring that our District takes a research-based approach to setting a detailed plan for success, sets her apart from the other candidates.
Let’s Elect Ms. Joly to the BOE
As a parent and resident, Ms. Joly is already engaged, respectfully asking the tough questions, and moving important conversations forward. I have written this letter in support of Ms. Joly so that we can bring her talent, demeanor and commitment to the BOE where she can be most effective in helping our students succeed.
Natasha Joly is One of Two Candidates Running for Two Seats on the Berkeley Heights Board of Education
2023 Berkeley Heights BOE Candidate Endorsements