Our District Is In Trouble & It’s Up to Our Community to Fix It

Apr 28, 20231 Comment

Berkeley Heights school district is on a downward spiral and needs drastic change.

How do we get there…

Step 1 – we need to change the makeup of the board. This is where the community can make their voices heard. The BOE has members with validated ethics complaints against them, and most members don’t question or challenge the administration. The BOE’s current makeup, combined with this Superintendent, is toxic for Berkeley Heights. The public needs to vote out a good portion of the BOE. Two seats that can change the majority vote are up this year.

Which brings me to Step 2- remove the Superintendent. This Superintendent has been a cancer to this community. What positive change is she driving? What creative ideas is she putting forth? Is her focus on closing the learning gap or her legal defense of an issue she knowingly created? Is her focus on making sure tax dollars are used efficiently and for the benefit of our kids, or is she focused on growing her administration and funneling money to the attorneys? Is she focused on community engagement or PR hand-on-hip pictures?

This Superintendent also has validated SEC charges against her because she cuts corners, ignores policies, and is just plain arrogant. Her business administrator can’t answer how much courtesy bussing costs and doesn’t have a process to ensure fees are collected. There is no clear answer to why we can pull 600k from the benefits account year over year to pay for other items. And in this budget process, the Superintendent once again demonstrated that she doesn’t care about teachers, parents, or students. One of the highest decorated GL seniors spoke on behalf of the math supervisor, praising him for his contribution to her and other students’ success. She spoke of the need to keep both math and science supervisors based on her academic experience. The Superintendent’s callous response was that if we kept the supervisor(s), we would lose two teachers. In the meantime, what cuts did she make in her office? How many cuts were proposed for the Business Administrator? Why should teachers lose their jobs when the SI and BA offices are so bloated?

Let’s remember that nothing would have changed if some in the community didn’t question the preliminary budget and didn’t speak in support of teachers, supervisors, and athletics. Despite all their efforts, this budget still falls short of where we need to be but it’s better because people spoke up. We need to increase the level of activism to get the change we need!

My family moved here ten years ago for the schools. I believe in public schools. But if we were looking to move today with young children, the combination of rankings and taxes would force us to look elsewhere.

2023 BHPSNJ BUDGET PRE-MEETING WRAP UP

RATINGS, RANKINGS AND DOLLARS

THE NEXT BUDGET MEETING NEEDS TO BE A COURSE CORRECTION

THIS ADMINISTRATION IS A DISASTER

NJ EDUCATION REPORT PUBLISHES NEW INFORMATION ON BHPSNJ BUDGET…..AND IT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD

WHY DO WE NEED A SUPERINTENDENT ANYWAY?

POLICY 6220 – YOUR RIGHT TO THE BUDGET PROCESS

WHAT TEACHERS, PARENTS AND STUDENTS NEED TO PREPARE FOR

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS BERKELEY HEIGHTS

THE ONLY SOURCE OF MISINFORMATION IN OUR COMMUNITY IS DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION

JULIE KOT CONTINUES TO PRETEND THE BUDGET IS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION