By Donald Gilpin

After a brief pause, when enrollment dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is facing a growing population and the need to make important decisions about where all those students will be going to school.

On Monday evening, June 5, PPS Superintendent Carol Kelley, along with a cohort of Board of Education (BOE) members and school administrators, presented several options for the future of the town’s elementary schools to a gathering of about 100 parents and community members assembled in the Princeton High School cafeteria.

As the district continues to gather information and input from stakeholders throughout the community, the possible scenarios under discussion include: 1) no changes — the status quo; 2) redistricting and rebalancing, with four pre-K to fifth grade buildings, about 370 students in each building; 3) building where the growth is, with four pre-K to fifth grade buildings, with larger populations at Littlebrook and Community Park, and smaller at Riverside and Johnson Park; 4) a “sister school” concept, with two sets of schools paired pre-K-2 and 3-5; and 5) a new upper elementary (or lower middle) grades 5-6 school.

“The discussion is part of ongoing outreach to our parents, students, and the community as the district analyzes and evaluates options for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond,” Kelley wrote in her invitation to the event. “We have been listening to feedback from parents and staff across the district and want to make sure all voices are heard. No decisions regarding future plans have been made.”

During the course of the evening participants shared their priorities and concerns for the future of the schools, as they heard from Kelley and others about some of the pros and cons of each option under consideration. 

In the coming weeks there will be additional stakeholder meetings, as well as internal discussion among teachers and administrators, and external

professional advice on design, cost, and budget implications of the options.

By late summer or early fall, the district intends to make a decision about which option to pursue, with detailed plans to be formulated by March 2024 for BOE deliberation and approval. The Board is anticipating a referendum vote in September 2024 to fund whatever option is chosen. If approved, the necessary construction work could take anywhere from one to three years to complete, with the new plan implemented at the earliest by late 2025.

In explaining the purpose of the meeting, BOE member Beth Behrend, who is co-chair of the Board’s Long Term Planning Committee, emphasized that the stakeholders will be leading the decision-making process. “The community will have to approve,” she said. “The Board cannot advocate. We’re simply trying to facilitate the process. It’s about the community.” 

She noted that since updated demographic data became available in February there has been extensive input and opinions from many different constituencies.

In a 30-minute “parent feedback work session” early in the evening, participants, divided into five different groups where they shared their priorities, writing down and posting three choices for “what you want us to deliver,” “what you want your child to experience.” 

There was widespread agreement on many themes that emerged — small class sizes; neighborhood schools within walking distance; parity in resources; emphasis on diversity, stability, mental health, strong teaching, and academics; support for the Dual Language Immersion program (DLI), and more.

The gathering seemed more aligned in its priorities, and in accord with the district’s established strategic plan goals, than might have been expected, Kelley commented. The challenge ahead, however, is to determine which districting option will be best capable of advancing these priorities.

In the last half hour of the meeting, Kelley and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Kimberly Tew commented on some pros and cons of each of the options.

“Status quo — do nothing” is not a viable option, Kelley noted, with Littlebrook and Johnson Park currently already at capacity and enrollments growing. 

The redistrict and rebalance scenario would require changing the boundaries of the four elementary schools to balance enrollments. Renovations would be needed at all schools. That option would facilitate consistency of class sizes, but would create challenges for the DLI program, according to Kelley.

The “build where growth” scenario would require no redistricting, but would require enlarging of Littlebrook to accommodate growth and Community Park to accommodate dual-track DLI, as well as renovations in all schools. It would also require additional personnel in the form of a school counselor, assistant principal, and nurse for the larger buildings.

In the sister school model, recommended by planners but apparently not popular so far with parents, Johnson Park as a pre-K-2 school would be paired with Community Park as a 3-5 school and Riverside as a pre-K-2 school would be paired with Littlebrook as a 3-5 school. All elementary schools would be renovated and reconfigured to accommodate their particular grade levels.

Kelley emphasized the efficiency of a sister school model, which would allow for consistency in class sizes and instructional practices and the ability to sharpen the focus on the early pre-K-2 learners and also on the 3-5 learners, as well as flexibility for future enrollment. Increased traffic could cause challenges under the sister school model.

The new 5-6 school configuration would be the most effective in preparing students for middle school and high school, according to Kelley, but the financial burden would be significant, with the need for a new building and an additional principal, counselor, and nurse.

As the district moves toward an early fall decision for its elementary schools, with a bond referendum a year later to support whatever plan is chosen, school leaders continue to urge community input, emphasizing their focus on community partnership, community collaboration, and thoughtful evaluation.