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NJ21st 07/23/2024 Newsletter
What's Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week's newsletter starts with two articles about somewhat similar narratives on initiatives in Berkeley Heights and Warren, which leave residents of both communities with more questions than answers. Despite weeks of effort on our part, the Berkeley Heights Mayor, Council, and Recreation Chair still need to make the Lower Columbia Field lease agreement public and provide a line-by-line accounting of where the funding is coming from. They are asking the public to vote on an open-ended ballot question that hands school property over to the Township for $1.
Residents in Warren and Berkeley Heights Have Similar Questions on Non-Binding Ballot Measures
The following is a contribution from Steve Bumgarneroriginally posted on Warren Confidential. Berkeley Heights residents should pay close attention to the concerns especially surrounding the issue of funding sources. To date, despite the many speeches and articles from the Recreation Chair and Township Government - requests for information are provided late and are reliant on whether the Town Council Member wants to provide responsive documents, the lease agreement is still not available to the public for review, questions on liability remain unanswered and a comprehensive line by line breakdown on where the money for the turf field exists is still not available.
2025-26 Calendar Recommendations for Berkeley Heights Public Schools
How to expand on religious holidays and professional development. -Written by a non-politically connected Educator in the Community. School calendars from 17 school districts, including Berkeley Heights (BHPS), are analyzed to explore religious holidays (depending on community demographics) and professional development (to provide more time for educator training).
NJ21st 07/15/2024 Newsletter
What's Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week's newsletter begins with an overview of District developments and moves to the start of a series that plans to detail - step by step- efforts by operatives from both local machines to obstruct progress being made by the new Board of Education.
Summer Briefing on BHPS
As we reported at the June 20 board meeting, Dr. Joseph Cordero was appointed as the director of elementary education and intervention. Dr. Cordero comes from Summit, where he spent time as an Elementary Principal and was appointed as the District’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction in 2022. He is credited with helping to launch Summit Public Schools’ first STEAM Innovation Lab and an Anti-Racism and Social Justice committee for staff. Before Summit, Cordero worked in Jersey City and received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Kean University.
Office of State Comptroller Report Raises Questions on Berkeley Heights Shared Services Agreement
Berkeley Heights township hired a top ranking Union County official Joseph Graziano under a shared services agreement with the county and paid him a part time salary to oversee the Department of Public Works while he also got paid salary and full-time benefits from the Union County job where he was the head of the department of public works for many years.
Who are the Real Clowns That Want to Tear It Down ?
With declines in proficiency firmly evidenced, two years of an assault democratic mechanisms, and an 11th-hour attempt to prevent a new BOE from delivering on its promise to improve the District, former BOE representatives and operatives within local government loyal to the Old BOE became obsessed with ensuring Angela Penna became BOE President.
NJ21st 07/08/2024 Newsletter
What's Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. Our newsletter begins with the progress made by the new BOE majority and Administration concerning Math proficiency despite the secretive land grabs, drama, and chaos that the political houses and their operatives are creating in our District.
Breaking Down The Recent BOE Mathematics Department Presentation
Recent BOE Mathematics Department presentation Details BHPS on Right Track in Math. -Written by a non-politically connected Educator in the Community. There is no question that math instruction has been an area of discussion and even controversy at Berkeley Heights Public Schools (BHPS) over the past two school years.
What’s Important to Know About NJ This Week –07/06/2024
Protections for Domestic Workers Take Effect, Meals Expanded for Students During School Year, Increased Respite for Families, Former Gov. Kean - Biden Should Drop Out. As of Monday, employers must pay domestic workers no less than the state’s minimum wage of $15.13 per hour. Under prior law, part-time child care providers working primarily in their employer’s home were exempted from the state’s minimum wage.
Pamela Stanley, Anthony Juskiewicz and Board Attorneys: Lessons Learned, or Rather, Not Learned
Following up on the recent article, which shows emails obtained via OPRA from the Berkeley Heights Board of Education that are related to the incident involving Pamela Stanley and resident Tom Maciejewski, it is concerning that Mrs. Stanley doesn’t grasp the concept of what is ethical and what is not. While taking the picture isn’t an ethical issue, posting it on social media – with a claim that the resident did something wrong by being near her – does pose an ethical problem. In the email chain, Mrs. Stanley claims that she posted the picture to protect the Board. How she arrived at that conclusion is anyone’s guess. We see that other board members express concern over Mrs. Stanley’s post, and question how her actions could be construed as protective. Mrs. Stanley replies by stating (wrongly) that it is inappropriate for Mr. Maciejewski to be near her in public because he has an active case against her. The case has been taken over by the Deputy Attorney General’s office on behalf of the School Ethics Commission. It is no longer Mr. Maciejewski’s case, but even if it were, it’s a legal case, not a restraining order.
Clarification and Request for Action Regarding Pamela Stanley's Misstatements
The following is an email from Edmund Tom Maciejewski to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Mr. Maciejewski is a resident of Berkeley Heights NJ. To date, Mr. Maciejewski reports he has not received confirmation that Ms. Stanley WAS acting in her official board capacity during the Starbucks Incident.
NJ21st 07/01/2024 Newsletter
What's Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. The newsletter begins with articles expressing questions and concerns surrounding the Townships' attempt to get public buy-in on their attempt to secure control over school property. This is followed up by two responses we received from the BOE vice president and a BOE representative that provide some insight on the issue.
What’s Important to Know About NJ This Week –06/30/2024
Teacher's Union Continues Dark Money Tradition, TANF Not Helping, The NJ Budget Bomb, NJ Transit Sticker Shock. Matt Friedman at Politico (paywalled) and Mike Lilley at Sunlight explain that in January 2024 Garden State Forward, NJEA's super PAC, contributed $2 million in teacher member dues to Spiller's dark money PAC called "Protecting Our Democracy," which is intended to boost Spiller's name recognition and credibility. This contribution was duly reported to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). However, based on a tip, they were able to verify that in 2022 the NJEA super PAC gave Spiller's PAC two donations, one for $1 million in April 2022 and another for $2 million in September 2022 , that was not reported to ELEC but was visible on Garden State Forward's IRS Form 8872 filings.
Letter to Berkeley Heights/New Providence Mayors & Town Councils on Power Outages
The following is an email provided to BHCW from Berkeley Heights Resident Michael Leblond sent to Mayors and Town Councils on Power Outages. I am writing to express my frustration regarding the frequent power outages affecting our community. I’ve had two outages this month alone. These interruptions have been occurring with increasing frequency and are causing significant hardship to residents and local businesses alike.
Questions the Rec Dept. & Town Council Should Answer Before Asking Our Schools for the CMS Field
The following is an email NJ21st sent to the Recreation Department, Mayor and Town Council…. My understanding is that the recreation department holds events where it takes in revenue on BHSPNJ Property (playground camp for example).
Response from BOE Representative Sai Akiri on CMS Field Question
Yesterday I wrote on the Council’s Attempt to have the public vote on the CMS Field Issue with little to no detail on the actual agreement publicly available and with no presentation in front of the BOE – which would give the BOE an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns.
Response to Vice President Dipti Khanna regarding Lower Columbia Lease Agreement
I was disheartened to see your response to John Migues and the Berkeley Heights Community Watch when you ignored my email dated May 15th. As a resident and the Chair of the Recreation Commission am I not important enough, or vocal enough, to warrant the courtesy of a response.
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