Princeton Charter School campus

It’s up to the State Department of Education’s Acting Commissioner Kimberley Harrington whether or not to approve Princeton Charter School’s (PCS) application to expand its enrollment by 76 students. With Princeton Public Schools (PPS) and their supporters opposing the expansion publicly, in the press, in the courts, locally and in Trenton, and the PCS strongly defending its proposal, Ms. Harrington has plenty of opportunity for input from both sides on her decision, which she is expected to render within the next two months.

Both PCS and PPS leaders have expressed a desire to work together, and PCS leaders met with PPS authorities last week in what each side described as a cordial and promising session. They plan to meet again later this week, presumably in an attempt to find common ground, but the public debate has been contentious.

In December, following the PCS announcement of its application to the State, the PPS Board approved a resolution opposing that application, claiming that the proposed Charter School expansion would drain nearly $1.2 million in funds from the public schools and “have a profoundly negative effect on the students in our district schools.” PPS then followed up last week with a formal complaint to the State and a law suit alleging that PCS violated the Sunshine Law or the Open Public Meetings Act when it passed the resolution to amend the school’s charter and increase its enrollment.

“In essence we are claiming that the community was not properly informed that the PCS Trustees were intending to take action to approve an application to increase the school’s enrollment, and that, as a result, the court should invalidate that action,” stated PPS superintendent Steve Cochrane.

PCS Board Chair Paul Josephson declined to discuss the law suit, but defended the PCS application and disputed the validity of the PPS complaints. “I’m hoping for productive dialogue with PPS going forward,” he said. “We’ll respond to the law suit in due course but for now prefer to focus our efforts on productive face-to-face meetings rather than litigation. We are willing to discuss our proposal and how the district thinks it might be improved.”

Mr. Cochrane has scheduled two informational sessions to highlight how the District would be affected by the expansion, Wednesday, January 11 at 10 a.m. for parents only; and Thursday, January 12 at 7 p.m. for parents and community members; both in the John Witherspoon Middle School Auditorium.

The question of Charter School expansion will probably also be on the agenda of next Monday’s Town Council meeting, at the request of community members who urged Council at last Monday’s meeting to approve a resolution to oppose PCS expansion and to consider consolidation of PCS and PPS.

The two district-sponsored sessions will include a presentation by Rutgers Bloustein School professor Julia Sass Rubin, comparing demographics and costs per pupil for PPS and PCS. There will be an opportunity for questions, with the district urging “parents who are looking for factual information about this important issue for our schools and our community to attend.”

In comments to the State Board of Education a week ago, Mr. Cochrane criticized the State’s funding formula where “in policy and practice, the Charter Schools and the district schools are pitted against each other. It shouldn’t be that way.”

“School districts and charter schools are operating at cross purposes,” he added. “Money is being taken from one to enhance the other. Students and communities are paying the price.”

Mr. Cochrane criticized the Charter School funding process as unfair and undemocratic, noting that with rapidly rising enrollments and a particularly crowded high school, the district is in the process of developing a referendum to expand space, “but that referendum is one we are required to discuss openly with the public and one on which our community will have the right to vote. There is no vote on the Charter School’s facility expansion, but if it goes through, the district will have no choice but to cut programs and personnel.”

In its application, PCS cited the hope of helping to alleviate the district’s overcrowding and the need to better serve “the academic and social and emotional needs of our students” through the enrollment changes. Approval of the proposal would mean construction of three new classrooms, a larger cafeteria, additional spaces for special education, and possibly two extra “flex classrooms.”

Their proposal also includes a weighted lottery for admission in seeking to increase the population of economically disadvantaged students at PCS. The PCS application cited high demand for admission, widespread parental support, recognition from the State, and high student performance data as evidence of its success over the past 20 years.