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Chair moves Berkeley Heights Board of Education into executive session after members question superintendent interview process
Summary
Board members pressed for public answers about whether remote interview access was offered to all superintendent candidates; the board voted to go into executive session to discuss superintendent interviews with its consultant and returned to public session later that night.
The Berkeley Heights Board of Education voted to adjourn to executive session to discuss superintendent interviews after several members raised concerns about whether the interview process had been applied uniformly to all candidates.
Board Chair announced the motion invoking the Open Public Meetings Act and listed confidentiality grounds including personnel matters and attorney–client privilege. The chair said the board would meet with the district’s consultant and that the board would be in executive session for an unspecified duration.
A committee member pressed the board for public answers on the process, saying, “How are we allowing a preferential treatment to some candidates to attend these interviews remotely versus some?” and asked whether the consultant had offered remote access to all candidates. That member added, “There is nothing attorney client privilege about this,” urging that the consultant be asked to answer in public.
Another member told the board they wanted written confirmation from NJSBA that “the process that’s being run here is fair to all candidates,” saying she wanted to ensure the district was not exposed to later claims that the process was unfair. A separate board member urged the board to proceed with the search, saying the goal was to “find a new superintendent” and to avoid delaying the process.
After discussion, the board voted to enter executive session and the chair announced the board would adjourn to executive session at 6:10 p.m. and move to room 118. The motion passed.
The board returned to public session later in the evening. The chair opened a public-comment period and explained the rules for speakers, noting that in-person members would speak first, then remote participants; the chair reported no in-person or online speakers at that time. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
The transcript records the procedural steps, the request for written confirmation from the district’s consultant (identified in the record as NJSBA), and the motion to discuss superintendent interviews in executive session. The transcript does not include a complete roll-call tally for the motion in a clearly attributable form; the chair stated the motion passed.
