Response from the Business Administrator on Concerns Regarding the Berkeley Heights Public School Audit

Feb 6, 20241 Comment

Question from BHCW:

Good Evening,

I noticed that the 2022-2023 ACFR is on the DOE website however it is my understanding that, by statute, prior to submission a presentation to the Board and Public is required.

Was there a presentation on this report to the Board that the public did not have access to?

https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/acfr/search/23/0310.pdf

Response From Mr. Juskiewicz, Business Administrator:

I would appreciate it if you can coordinate your emails with Mrs. Akiri since both of you send emails regarding the same topic separately. Thank you

The normal course of the audit is that the board receives the audit for them to review. Our auditor presents the report to the board and this is occurring on 2.13.24. The board then accepts the report and this is scheduled for 2.26.24 and once this occurs this is then placed on the District website. I am giving the board members the courtesy of reviewing it first before it is placed on the website. This has been the procedure in the past and will continue to do so going forward.

Thank you

Reply From BHCW:

Our question had nothing to do with the time-frames connected to when the Audit gets posted on the District website.

Our question had to with whether the Board and Public had the opportunity to hear the Audit presentation before it was submitted to the State of NJ. Ms. Akiri answered this question – the Board nor the Public heard a presentation from the auditor.

With regard to other Members of the BOE asking similar questions about this, that is reassuring to hear. Have a great day, and thank you for your response.

The tactic above (answering a different question than asked) is often employed by the Administration and members of the old majority as a means of deflection. What ensues when it is employed during BOE Meetings is a back-and-forth that can last for an hour at times with BOE Members repeating the same questions over and over again attempting to get a straight answer. Predictably, the Administration and members of the old majority throw their hands up and scream “chaos” .