And why weren’t Berkeley Heights Residents Aware of it?
Update on 01/14/2023: The BOE DID Vote on this Increase but there is more to the Story.
It appears Dr. Varley got a 2% raise without a vote by the Board of Education. To walk through this, we need to first walk through her contract.
If you recall, Dr. Varley got a controversial pre-mature contract extension and salary increase in 2021.
A condition of that contract was that she would be limited to 2% increases annually, contingent on Board Approval. It also stated that, aside from this, no salary increase would occur until July 1st, 2024 and only then and if a contract extension is in place.
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“the Board may elect” being the key words above.
And so that there is no confusion:
Dr. Varley’s salary for the 2021-2022 school year is $215,000. The revised contract, which runs from the 2021-2022 school year to the 2023-2024 school year, states the superintendent can receive up to a two percent increase in salary per year, rather than a guaranteed two percent increase. The board will determine whether her performance merits a raise and what that raise should be within the limits of the contract. source
A few days ago, a community member gave me a copy of a payroll report demonstrating a 2% increase in Dr. Varley’s (Dr. Whitfield’s) salary starting July 13th, 2023, which he obtained through OPRA.
There is no contractual agreement surrounding this increase, nor is there any record of a Board vote approving it within the June or July 2023 Minutes.
In thinking about this and the events that occurred since then, a few points come to mind:
At the September 23, 2021, Berkeley Height BOE meeting, board member Angela Penna voted for the amended contract for the Superintendent, which shows that there were no automatic raises built into it.
At the January 4th reorganization meeting for the Board, there was a resolution to allow just the Board Secretary to sign school warrants. This was defeated on a tie vote where the prior Board President, Angela Penna along with Pamela Stanley, Gale Bradford and Jordan Hyman voted for it.
Board policy 0172 is that payroll warrants must be signed off by the Superintendent and the President and Board Secretary.
Also per state law NJSA18A:19-4.
Audit of claims; warrants for payments; exemptions (PSCL Contracting Units)
18A :19-4. a. All claims and demands against the Board of education, except those which are to be paid from funds derived from athletic events or other activities of pupil organizations, shall, unless otherwise provided by resolution of the Board of education, be examined, audited, and certified in writing by the secretary and presented by the secretary to the Board of education for its approval at a regularly called meeting, and if found to be correct, shall be ordered paid by the Board of education, whereupon the secretary and the president of the Board of education and the chief school administrator shall issue and sign a warrant in payment therefor. In a district which has a treasurer of school moneys, the secretary thereupon shall forward the warrant to the treasurer of school moneys.
Why would the former Board President and three other members of the Board vote to abdicate the Board’s responsibility on this item?
Why would the former BOE President ,who is seeking the position again, vote for the removal of checks and balances required for a public entity?
Why would any Board Member vote to remove a basic yet critical accountability check?
We may also begin to understand why Dr. Foregger, Ms. Khanna, Ms. Joly and Ms. Akiri voted against removing these checks and balances.
I emailed the Board of Education yesterday asking for the date this increase was approved and the person(s) responsible.
So far I have not received a response.
An answer is essential.
If Dr. Varley received a raise without formal approval from the Board, with only the board president signing off on the warrant, more serious questions on whether Berkeley Heights taxpayers were defrauded will follow.
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