By Donald Gilpin

Projected to grow by several hundred students over the next five years, Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is planning for the future and has invited everyone to a community forum on Saturday, January 25 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Princeton High School (PHS) cafeteria.

The forum will be led by consultants from Milone & MacBroom (M&M), a planning firm hired last fall for $140,000, which has been reviewing the district’s enrollment projections, facility needs, and educational programs. During the forum M&M will share their findings and then facilitate small group discussions to hear about the community’s goals and priorities.

In the coming months, M&M plans to collaboratively generate a vision for the district schools and, by early June, to provide a range of recommendations that are educationally and economically sound.

With the ongoing issues of tight budgets and overcrowding, and PPS still in the process of implementing construction and maintenance projects associated with a $26.9M December 2018 referendum bond issue, Saturday’s forum promises a large turnout with plenty to talk about.

In seeking to encourage as much participation as possible in the planning process, PPS has widely disseminated information and publicity for Saturday’s forum. “There are no preconceived outcomes to this process,” said PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane at a meeting last month. “We will be generating and considering multiple options collectively as a community.” BOE President Beth Behrend emphasized the Board’s focus on “data-based decision-making.”

Mary Clurman, a Princeton resident and recent BOE election candidate, has been urging residents to attend Saturday’s meeting and speak up about a number of concerns. Among her “issues worth addressing,” mentioned in an email sent out Monday, were how enrollment projections were arrived at, when students will result from new affordable housing, considerations for redistricting, staff reduction (or expansion), purchase of Westminster, and possibilities of consolidating with Cranbury.

Daniel Dart, a BOE member and PPS parent, commenting as a private citizen and not on behalf of the Board, emphasized the collaborative nature of the process, adding, “I fully support transparency and public engagement and look forward to the public participation at the January 25 community forum.” 

Dart also noted that he is pleased with the additional classrooms and other educational spaces at PHS and John Witherspoon Middle School, paid for by the 2018 referendum, and does not see the need for the PPS to acquire additional land or buildings in the near future. “My personal focus will be to advocate for new teachers to maintain class sizes at optimal levels,” he said. “I favor cost effective and affordable solutions to maintain excellent schools.”

With more informational meetings, interactive workshops, email blasts, and focus groups  to engage the community in the coming months, M&M will next be embarking on the “scenario development” stage of the planning process.

From now through the end of March, M&M will be prioritizing needs and reviewing preliminary alternatives for achieving PPS’ goals. Then from April through the beginning of June, the planners will narrow down the scenarios and present their recommendations.