Franceschi and Meisel Possess Skills, Energy, Temperament to Guide Schools in Next Phase
To the Editor:
I am a parent of three PPS children (one each at Littlebrook, PMS, and PHS), and I’m writing to support the candidacies of Mara Franceschi and Ari Meisel for the Board of Education.
I got to know Mara during her highly effective first term on the Board. As co-chair of the Board’s Personnel Committee, Mara mastered the details of public education employment law and worked hard to enable PPS to retain and attract excellent teachers in a tight job market, all while keeping a careful eye on budget realities. Under Mara’s leadership, the district’s investments in its extraordinary staff have paid off for PPS students: 2024 test scores reveal that the district’s post-COVID academic performance is at or exceeds where we were in 2018. Through her work on the Operations and Long-Term Planning committees, Mara learned how to meet the needs of a complex, high-performing school district with a $100 million+ budget while adhering to the statutory 2 percent year-to-year cap in an inflationary environment. And as a recent addition to the Negotiations Committee, Mara helps to strike contract deals with PPS teachers and administrators that are both fair and fiscally responsible.
Ari and I know each other from Littlebrook School, where our daughters are students, and from Princeton Little League, where our children play baseball together. Ari has five kids, and he is a marvel of productivity and civic engagement. In addition to running his own professional coaching business, Ari is the Vice President of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and the Chair of the House Committee at The Jewish Center of Princeton, where he oversees all aspects of the synagogue’s physical infrastructure. He serves on the Princeton Committee on Affordable Housing, Racial, Social, and Economic Equity and the Princeton Middle School PTO Executive Board. He knows a great deal about green building and sustainable design from his years running an ambitious redevelopment project in Binghamton, New York, a background that positions him to guide the district as it improves its infrastructure and plans for long-term development. Ari, in other words, is the complete package: an astonishingly energetic, enthusiastic, and roll-up-his-sleeves kind of person, ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Over the next three years, our Board will determine how to improve our physical facilities to meet growing enrollments; how to support, retain, and reward our excellent teachers; and how to maintain and surpass our district’s exceptional standards in a fiscally prudent way. I am confident that Mara and Ari possess the skills, energy, and temperament to guide our schools during this challenging next phase. I enthusiastically encourage all Princetonians to vote for Mara and Ari on November 5!