Regarding Berkeley Heights Board of Education

Helen Gabara

There is a lot of talk from the same voices that supported the prior administration attempting to resurrect their candidate’s chances for election. These voices include members of special interests and former council members trying to twist and spin the New BOE’s efforts on the Superintendent search.

Here is a fact-based, black-and-white chronology of events for the superintendent search meeting in 2024:

1. 4th Jan 2024: Four board members (Foregger, Joly, Khanna, Akiri) asked for a dedicated board meeting to discuss the superintendent search at the very first reorganization meeting on January 4th, 2024. These same four members are blocked from adding 2 extra meetings to the calendar. A meeting was added for February 8th, 2024 to discuss the process for the Superintendent search.

2. 2nd Feb 2024: Board meeting scheduled for 8th Feb is canceled, and rescheduled for 13th Feb 2024.

3. 13th Feb 2024 meeting canceled due to snowstorm

4. 26th Feb 2024 – Regular board meeting. NJSBA presents Superintendent Search proposal. No other firms were invited or presented proposals by the BOE President. The packed agenda (developed by the Board President) for the regular meeting also includes an ethics presentation by NJSBA, the audit report presentation, and a presentation by the transportation consultants on district busing. Board members are limited to how many questions are allowed to be asked during the meeting.

5. 29th Feb – District posts ad for Interim Superintendent.

6. 18th March – Regular Board meeting. Tentative budget passes. The Board appoints Mr.Nixon as the Acting Superintendent. Stanley abstains on Acting Superintendent appointment. Penna and Bradford vote NO on Acting Superintendent appointment. Five board members support the Acting Superintendent appointment (Khanna, Joly, Akiri, Foregger, Hyman).

7. Spring break recess – 29th March to 7th April

8. 10th April – Special Board meeting. 3 Superintendent Search firms present proposals in public session.

9. 15th April – Special Board meeting. Board interviews interim Superintendent candidates in Executive session.

10. 18th April – Regular Board meeting. Board approves NJSBA as the search firm for the Superintendent search process.

11. 24th April – Public meeting on budget for 2024-2025.

12. 7th May – Regular Board meeting. 2024-2025 Budget passes unanimously.

13. 20th May – Special Board meeting. First public meeting on Superintendent search led by NJSBA. NJSBA provides 2 calendar options for consideration – target start dates of 1st Jan 2025 and 1st July 2025, for the new Superintendent.

I agree with a prior LTE written by an educator earlier today – the community should understand the facts of the situation. If they did they would arrive at a very different conclusion – that four BOE members are doing everything possible to get the District back on track.

The LTE written by the educator in the school district does not acknowledge that board president Bradford, a veteran of the BHPS school district for 22 years voted NO in the appointment of Mr.Nixon as the Acting Superintendent. The educator also does not seem to be aware that the interim Superintendent position can only be filled by a retired administrator, so Mr.Nixon cannot technically be appointed to the role. So the 4 members who are being attacked by the educator are in fact the majority that supported for Mr.Nixon’s appointment to the top job in the district. Why does the educator not recognize or applaud that decision?

Also it is worthwhile to note that one of the Board members who is up for re election this November, a loud supporter of the social media policy in 2022 is now actively posting on the BH community social media group. Those who were lamenting how Angela Penna was targeted by some residents are now in turn targeting the board members they don’t favor.

I would encourage the Berkeley Heights community to read the facts and draw their own conclusions on which board members are doing their part in moving the district forward. The rest is just political theater just in time for the November BOE election.