This is a submissions from  Berkeley Heights Community Watch.

In a massive win for transparency, Attorney Walter Luers represented a Berkeley Heights resident in an Open Public Records (OPRA) case connected to a request for information surrounding Berkeley Heights Public School Transportation Services. School busing has been controversial in Berkeley Heights as residents discovered some parents were required to pay for subscription busing while others received it for free through courtesy Busing.  

Despite repeated demands for clarity, the District and the Board of Education (BOE), led by president Angela Penna, provided the public with no information on criteria or costs related to the program.  Nearly a year later, with a new BOE in place, Ms. Penna attempted to quash Ms. [Sai Bhargavi] Akiri’s request for more information during the January BOE Meeting.  

As recently as this month, three BOE members requested the report to prepare before the presentation.  However, they were denied and told it would only be made available via walkthrough with the business administrator.

In reading what the resident was requesting, we are left wondering why the New Jersey Department of Education used taxpayer dollars to prevent the disclosure of information, as there wasn’t any real risk of student information being disclosed.

Privacy has historically and improperly been used by our District as a reason to hide information from our community when the information being asked for poses no threat to students.  It has also been used improperly under the guise of “staff” when “staff” refers to the superintendent and high-level administrators in connection to public funds and communications.

Excerpt from the Court’s Decision:

“To be clear, in the instant case, once the personally identifiable information is removed, the record is considered “de-identified” and may be released under FERPA, as the Department, for the reasons discussed above, has not made “a reasonable determination” that doing so would be contrary to the Act. Furthermore, under N.J.A.C. 6A:32-7.5(g), the Department “shall adhere to the requirements pursuant to [OPRA]” and may release the records per N.J.S.A. 6A:32-7.5(g)1. Because the records are “de-identified” and the records are removed of all personally identifiable information, the documents are not student records, and no reasonable privacy interest exists under state law to withhold the remainder of the report.”

We are also left wondering why the District has simply not cleared this up in a year — we don’t need a consultant to explain the historical decisions made in connection to this service – only the Superintendent and those connected to courtesy busing would have access to this information.

Yes, let’s figure out a path forward but the community deserves answers on how this program has been historically run —and no consultant is needed to explain this.

Why do residents, yet again, have to engage in lawsuits and forensic science in order to find answers to what should be simple questions or obtain readily-available information? Seriously, what is wrong with this District?

Why do BOE members have to deal with one deflection after another from Central Administration and hostile BOE members in getting a report that has been hidden away somewhere for a month now?

A presentation on transportation is being held during this month’s BOE Meeting, and the hope is that residents can use the information that will be obtained from the DOE as a result of this win to vette whatever the District’s narrative on the transportation controversy ends up being.

Are we are having a presentation on this issue only because the District knew the State would lose and they needed time to spin whatever it is they wouldn’t tell us?

Given the circus this has turned into, this is a reasonable questions to ask.