-Shauna Williams is a Parent of One Child Attending BHPS and Two Children who are Graduates of BHPS
I cannot comment on the successes of any local realtor or engage in debates about their expertise in home sales. However, I must emphasize that home sales and personal profit are not the focus of this election, especially as we are selecting representatives for our schools.
I question Ms. Terrero’s position as a BOE candidate, as her platform appears focused on real estate gains for homeowners, which potentially benefits her financially. School board members pledge to avoid any actions for personal gain, and Ms. Terrero’s emphasis on profit raises concerns regarding her priorities.
Ms. Terrero’s primary talking points, which she reiterates multiple times, suggest that high-performing schools lead to greater home value upon resale. If your primary interest is selling your home, she seems to propose improving proficiency scores, addressing gaps in math skills, and enhancing our schools’ local and national rankings—to help increase home values and, by extension, her potential financial gain. This is certainly surprising given her ticket’s position on rankings just two weeks ago: “Much Ado About Rankings.”
What Ms. Terrero’s platform lacks is a clear plan to support students and educators in ways that genuinely enhance learning, understanding, and material retention. Furthermore, she offers no insight into how she would contribute to raising our schools’ rankings through substantive, educational improvements.
Ms. Terrero does highlight several issues, such as communication, technology deficiencies, infrastructure needs, and the lack of a long-term strategic plan. However, the district released a five-year strategic plan in March 2022, and on September 12, 2024, Mr. Nixon presented the 2024-25 district goals. These resources are readily available , demonstrating that the district has both goals and plans in place. Attentive engagement with our schools is essential to understanding them.
I agree that infrastructure has been a longstanding concern, reflected as a top priority in last spring’s budget survey . However, simply echoing community concerns is not enough; candidates should present ideas or a plan to address these issues.
Ms. Terrero concludes by reiterating the importance of property value, citing community division and fear over educational quality as reasons that might impact home values and business interests in Berkeley Heights. Her failure to contradict her running mate on his misunderstanding of this issue and to address these challenges with best practices or evidence-based solutions should raise questions for residents about her candidacy.
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