How Much More Should We Be Expected to Tolerate?

Feb 27, 20232 Comments

The ongoing saga of our BOE, Dr. Varley and Julie Kot is Harming Our District

-Sai Akiri

It has been almost two years since parents became aware of the mass transfers of teachers in preparation for redistricting and reconfiguration in 2021.

Parents, the key stakeholders, were not informed until the nth minute, they were not offered a seat at the table to discuss the impact of redistricting during a global pandemic. The superintendent gave multiple inaccurate statements along with the then-board president and vice president. The entire board violated state statutes on bidding and education adequacy laws.

Look at the public record of lies or if you want to call it -inaccurate information -over the years from our Superintendent, Dr.Varley.

1. The claim that she had verbal approval from the county superintendent for redistricting was untrue.

2. Multiple state laws and educational adequacy violations in 2021 were documented in a corrective action plan. Thankfully we didn’t lose any state aid.

3. Lying publicly about checking with board counsel on policy and recommending the board to vote on hiring her daughter in June 2021.

4. Inaccurate enrollment numbers for French in 2022.

5. Inaccurate information regarding metrics in the strategic plan that she claimed was maintained in a detailed 85 page document which later turned out to be a “mere exaggeration”.

6. She said she was prohibited by law from disclosing what % of special needs students were impacted by redistricting, but when questioned on which specific statute prevents her from releasing this information, she just backed down and threw out a number with no supporting information.

7. Certification under oath in her settlement offer starkly contrasts her public statements from June 24, 2021 BOE Meeting.

8. Leaking unredacted parent emails to local media and denying the fact, even with proof that she leaked those emails.

These are just a few examples; there are many more, and we have a board unwilling to hold her accountable.

This is a clear pattern.

What is the Board of Education going to do about it?

The board renewed the superintendent’s contract a year in advance and gave her a 2% raise last year and we have no awareness of the increase to her salary they have planned for this year.

The latest is a statement by the business administrator Ms. Julie Kot at February 9, 2023 board meeting that the district is facing a fiscal cliff and might have to look at staffing cuts. She did not provide any data to substantiate her claim.

So, it’s about time that these multiple unsubstantiated and inaccurate statements from district administration cause concern that residents start to speak up.

We have too many administrators for a district this size.

We have a superintendent supported by two assistant superintendents who cost our district a little over $500,000 in salaries and benefits but cannot answer a single question accurately via email or at the board meetings.

We have supervisors who do NOT instruct and instead find time from their day jobs to take on additional responsibilities to be with custodians of records (with a clear conflict of interest).

We should ask the district to present the administrative cost per student in our district when they present the tentative budget this year in March. We spend more than high ranking districts like Millburn and our neighboring district New Providence. What’s the added value of spending more?

What’s the added value of being top heavy? What does the top heavy administration do for student achievement?

Given this track record, do you trust Dr. Varley or Julie Kot to oversee our schools?

THE BUDGET, STUPID.

HOW MANY ADMINISTRATORS CAN FIT ON A FISCAL CLIFF?

FISCAL CLIFF? OR MONEY TO BURN?

MS. BRADFORD’S OPRA CUSTODIAN VOTE: SUPER SECRET INFORMATION & ONE MORE BUSINESS ASSISTANT

BERKELEY HEIGHTS ADMINISTRATORS REMAIN A WALL OF SILENCE

SCHOOL ETHICS COMMISSION DECISION INVOLVING FIVE BOE MEMBERS MOVES CASE TO OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

RENEWED PARENT FRUSTRATION AND MORE POOR DECISION-MAKING FROM DISTRICT ADMINISTRATORS

VARLEY, KOT AND THE ONGOING OBSESSION WITH SAI AKIRI

THIS YEARS BUDGET PROCESS WAS NOT NORMAL

THE BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL 2022 BUDGET CONTROVERSY: SYNOPSIS

DR. MELISSA VARLEY’S CONTRACT RENEWAL: ALL THE ARTICLES