By Donald Gilpin

At last night’s meeting, which took place after press time, the Princeton Board of Education (BOE) seemed prepared to support the latest referendum proposal from its facilities committee, calling for two questions on the ballot.

Question No. 1 would include improvements at all the elementary schools; construction of a new 5/6 school at Valley Road; the purchase of property at Thanet Road for central administration, transportation, and maintenance; security improvements; HVAC and other infrastructure improvements; an athletic field at Valley Road; a few additional high school classrooms; a second floor over the high school fitness center; and renovations to the guidance area — at a projected cost of $82,528,490.

Question No. 2 would include the balance of the high school expansion, an additional high school athletic field, and additional high school upgrades — at a projected cost of $47,086,435.

The first question must pass in order for the second question to pass, with BOE President Patrick Sullivan and Superintendent Steve Cochrane both noting the district’s need for all of the construction and renovation improvements included in both questions, at a total cost just under $130M.

Over the past two weeks the facilities committee has made a number of adjustments to its proposal, including the division into two questions, in order “to balance the needs of the schools with the reality of the tax environment that we live in now,” according to Facilities Committee Chair Dafna Kendal.

“Revisions to our earlier proposal are based on input from the community and from other Board members,” Kendal said. “It has been an inclusive and collaborative process.”

At last week’s standing-room-only BOE meeting, Sullivan stated, “We have tried to be transparent, tried to listen to questions and concerns, and to reflect the values and wishes of our community.” he described the entire referendum as “a sound plan,” but noted “we’ve gotten feedback from the community that it’s a big bite. We wanted to give people another option to postpone part of the plan for two-three years.”

Michele Tuck-Ponder, who was the only BOE member to vote against an earlier version of the proposal, acknowledged that she would probably vote against it again. “I anticipate that I will again be the only vote against.”

Tuck-Ponder explained, “My concern has always been about the process and the scale of the project. To the credit of the Board, the price has come down, and there has been an effort to hear people and their concerns.” In addition to calling for an independent architect’s review of the plans and a closer connection of the building project to student achievement and to the district’s strategic goals, Tuck-Ponder said she would like to see the high school improvements placed on another ballot question at another time in the future.

The BOE planned to submit its revised referendum proposal to the State Department of Education (DOE). After DOE approval, the final submission of the ballot question to the Board of Elections is due by early September, 60 days before the November election.

This Saturday, July 21, Cochrane, along with project architect Scott Downie of Spiezle Architectural Group, will hold a Q&A session in the Princeton Public Library at 9 a.m. to answer questions from the community about the proposed referendum.

The PPS website notes that this will be an opportunity to learn more about the planning and decision-making process that went into crafting the referendum proposal, as well as the process going forward to finalize the plan, submit it for a vote, and oversee construction if the vote is successful.

If both questions in the referendum are approved, construction is scheduled to begin in July 2019, with anticipated completion of the new 5/6 school in August of 2020, along with renovations at elementary and middle schools and athletic enhancements, and the high school renovations completed by August 2021.