Below are links to the Berkeley Heights Public Schools social media announcements in connection to reconfiguration. These links contain communication from the district on reconfiguration, parent and resident comments as well as meeting agendas.
“AN UPDATE FROM THE BERKELEY HEIGHTS BOARD OF EDUCATION: BOE Responds to Baseless ‘Violations’Doug Reinstein, President – Board of Education, Michael D’Aquila, Vice President – Board of EducationFollowing all applicable laws and guidelines as it relates to facilities improvements, as well as all school initiative, is something the school district takes very seriously. Therefore, when a baseless, unsubstantiated “multi page complaint alleging numerous violations in connection with the Berkeley Heights BOE’s actions surrounding reconfiguration” is filed with the NJ Attorney General the district has no choice but to respond to assure the public that no such violation(s) occurred.Please see attached for more information.”
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=657805245619772&id=100267211373581
“UPCOMING BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING ON THURSDAY, MAY 13 AT 7:30PM
The Board of Education has announced that the schedule for the Combined Conference and Regular Meeting on Thursday May 13, 2021 has changed. Executive Session will begin at 7:00 pm; the
Public session will begin at 7:30 pm. ” (05/11/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=627787851954845&id=100267211373581
“UPCOMING BHPS BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING – THURSDAY, APRIL 29 AT 7:30PM
The Board of Education has announced that the schedule for the Combined Conference and Regular Meeting on Thursday April 29, 2021 has changed. Executive Session will begin at 6:30 pm; the Public session will begin at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be held at Columbia Middle School in the Multipurpose Room.” (04/28/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=618741562859474&id=100267211373581
“A Message From Doug Reinstein, President – Board of Education, Michael D’Aquila, Vice President – Board of Education
A Better Berkeley Heights for All of Our Students
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =” (04/27/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=618502326216731&id=100267211373581
“A FEW KEY POINTS ABOUT REIMAGINING K-5 EDUCATION IN BHPS & A REMINDER TO COMPLETE YOUR SURVEY (IF APPLICABLE):
Thank you to all who attended and spoke at last night’s Town Hall Meeting to provide feedback on this process. This is a reminder that our survey to those households with students currently enrolled in grades PK-4 and/or registered for PK-1 for the next school year will close on April 25th at 6pm. Please fill it out if you haven’t had a chance to do so. You received a new email with the link earlier today.” (04/23/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=615822926484671&id=100267211373581
“A FEW KEY POINTS ABOUT REIMAGINING K-5 EDUCATION IN BHPS:
We look forward to speaking with residents at our 2nd Town Hall meeting tonight, April 22 at 7:30pm. Residents are invited to ask questions and provide feedback on the Reimagining K-5 Education plan.
As a reminder, highlights of the Full Day Kindergarten approach and the proposed realignment of the school structure include the following:
-We cannot implement FDK without rebalancing our schools current enrollment numbers. We are not dismantling neighborhood schools. For most students we have preserved the ability for them to walk to their neighborhood-oriented school and children in grades K-5 will now be grouped together for 6 years across the two ‘primary schools’ they will attend. This is not currently the case as our current model has all of our students together for two years at MKM before they are split amongst three schools for four years prior to coming back together for middle school. ” (04/22/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=615137053219925&id=100267211373581
Response from the BHPD to Dr. Varleys assertion that she communicated with municipal government on logistics and safety in connection to her reconfiguration plans. (04/22/2021)
“As of this date, no official opinion has been expressed by the Berkeley Heights Police Department regarding the current redistricting proposal. If requested to do so by the Board of Education or Superintendent of Schools, we will analyze any data generated by a study to determine how redistricting would impact pedestrian and traffic safety and provide options for consideration. Our opinion would then be presented to the Superintendent of Schools by the Chief of Police.”
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/berkeley-heights/categories/press-releases/articles/official-statement-from-berkeley-heights-police-department-regarding-current-redistricting-proposal?fbclid=IwAR3Dj4cbVN0sky_as4xnlp8DhOlC-0qb7Rog5CGSRkzfKo3Q5bGTl8hL7so
“ON BEHALF OF BHPS:
In response to the recent letter to the editor from a resident that recounted a portion of the April 20th Township meeting and highlighted an email exchange between the resident and the Superintendent of Schools regarding discussions about potential traffic impact, we stand by the statement in Dr. Varley’s email. The BHPS DID consult with BHPD with regard to potential traffic implications associated with the district’s proposed realignment plan. Our busing coordinator, Kelly Sheehan, met with the traffic officer to discuss potential traffic concerns that might occur as a result of the realignment of schools. The officer agreed that under the new map, traffic patterns should not change very much or at all. ” (04/21/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=614703306596633&id=100267211373581
“SPECIAL MEETINGS NOTICE FROM THE BHPS BOARD OF EDUCATION:
The Board of Education had announced that two (2) Special Meetings will be held to discuss the Reconfiguring of the Elementary Schools. The first one occurred last week. ” (04/21/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=614393763294254&id=100267211373581
“UPDATE ON THE REIMAGINING BHPS PK-5 SURVEY:
We understand that the rising K families who are not yet actively a part of BHPS want to participate in the Reimagining BHPS PK-5 survey. We are working with our technology department to migrate the emails of the registered rising Kindergarten students (K in 21-22) into the necessary system and hope to have a solution so those families can respond to the survey, too. ” (04/15/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=610726286994335&id=100267211373581
“AN IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DR. MELISSA VARLEY:
Good morning,
Yesterday was the first day we welcomed back all students grades 1-12 for in-person learning. It was wonderful to see our students back in the building! Thank you for your patience as we work through getting everyone back in. We are evaluating this process with an eye towards a return to all students returning to full day with lunch.” (04/13/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=609088157158148&id=100267211373581
“SPECIAL MEETINGS NOTICE FROM THE BHPS BOARD OF EDUCATION:
The Board of Education has announced that two (2) Special Meetings will be held to discuss the Reconfiguring of the Elementary Schools. These meetings will take place on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 and Thursday, April 22, 2021 in the Columbia Middle School Multipurpose Room, and will
begin at 7:30 pm.” (04/12/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=608613463872284&id=100267211373581
“UPCOMING BHPS BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING – THURSDAY, APRIL 8 AT 7:30PM
The Board of Education, in accordance with the Executive Order, has announced a Combined Conference and Regular Meeting to be held on Thursday, April 8, 2021 via Zoom and in-person at Columbia Middle School in the Multipurpose Room for a limited number of participants.” (04/06/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=557749528958678&id=100267211373581
“AN UPDATE FROM SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DR. MELISSA VARLEY AND THE BHPS BOE:
In advance of the next Board of Education meeting, which will be held on April 8th, we wanted to share the Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) timeline as many parents have asked about the history of the discussions and the process the district will follow over the next few weeks. We look forward to sharing the FDK plans and hearing feedback at the April 8th Board meeting, as well as the two Town Hall meetings on April 14th and April 22nd.” (04/01/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=543574390376192&id=100267211373581
“AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DR. MELISSA VARLEY & BOARD OF EDUCATION PRESIDENT, DOUG REINSTEIN WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN:…” (3/22/2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=536188214448143&id=100267211373581