To the Editor:

It is time for a change. For years, I’ve watched with dismay as members of Princeton’s Board of Education (BOE), with a few notable exceptions, have consistently failed to examine each question put before them with a critical eye.

The role of a Board member is to draw upon their experience, expertise, and analytical skills to deliberate with their fellow Board members to make informed decisions. It is not to serve as a rubber stamp.

Sadly, the leadership of our BOE discourages dissent among Board members in exchange for conformity to the wishes of both the administration and a small, but vocal, cadre political insiders who have for years set the BOE’s agenda.

As part of their effort to stifle public discourse, last year the BOE leadership spent taxpayer funds on legal fees to silence fellow Board members who shared information about topics of significant interest to the community.

Similarly, the BOE leadership established a policy to prevent Board members from communicating directly with the superintendent or the general public. Instead, all communications with the superintendent must now be filtered through the BOE’s president.

Such measures are chilling to those who believe in the crucial role that public debate has in a democracy.

The results speak for themselves. The BOE has recently made a series of tone-deaf decisions that underscore its inability to function as an effective deliberative body.

This spring the BOE moved forward with an ill-conceived and ill-timed plan to spend more than half a million dollars on two outdoor toilets and a small concession stand, despite concerns about both the cost and the need for the project. This decision was reached during height of the spring surge of the pandemic, with limited public input, and over objections of several Board members, when many Princetonians feared for their health, were struggling with reduced incomes, or worried about possible job losses.

A few weeks later, the BOE moved forward with a costly plan to equip our students with MacBook Airs and Chromebooks. During the meeting, several members acknowledged they hadn’t been given adequate time to review the administration’s proposals before voting. Indeed, one Board member admitted they didn’t know much about the teaching methodologies or technology solutions proposed but would nonetheless follow the advice of the administration’s “experts” and voted in favor of the plan.

Princeton deserves better.

Unfortunately, given the current Board leadership discourages debate and dissent, an end to this dysfunctional behavior is unlikely unless a new team of leaders take charge.

To change the culture of Princeton’s Board of Education, we need to elect new Board members who will ask hard questions, take a critical look at each proposal, and hold the administration accountable. It is for this reason that I urge my fellow residents to vote in new School Board members who will act on behalf of the community and elect a new BOE leadership team.

Please join me in electing the slate of Paul Johnson, Karen Lemon, and William Hare for the Princeton Board of Education.

Marc Monseau
Moore Street