Urging Community to Support January Princeton Public Schools Referendum
To the Editor:
We are lucky to live in a community that values high quality public education. In the service of this value, I urge my fellow Princetonians to support the January 28, 2025 public schools referendum.
This special election presents voters with three tiered questions. Question 1 provides funding to replace the end-of-life HVAC system at Princeton High School (PHS) and to expand Community Park School. Question 2 expands our painfully crowded Princeton Middle School (PMS), and reconfigures parts of PHS to improve functionality. Question 3 will fund much-needed new classrooms and expanded common areas at Littlebrook School. Question 1 must pass in order for question 2 to pass, and both 1 and 2 must pass in order for question 3 to pass.
Based on the average assessed home value of $853,136, the cost of Question 1 is $222 annually in property taxes. Questions 1 and 2 together would total $447. The total price of all three questions would be $532/year for the average Princeton home.
Why are these expenses needed? Question 1, $37.9 million: The HVAC system at PHS is beyond its useful life; it must be replaced. As any homeowner knows, such an expense goes beyond our “maintenance” budget; it requires a separate infrastructure investment. Community Park is the most centrally-located of our elementary schools, but lacks the capacity to serve all of the students who are a short walk or bike ride away. Many of those students are currently bussed to other schools at significant taxpayer expense (not to mention traffic congestion and pollution). The expansion would ease crowding across the other three elementary schools, reduce transit impacts, and promote walk- and bike-ability for hundreds of kids.
Question 2, $38.3M: Administrators, faculty, and staff at PMS have deftly orchestrated schedules over the past years to minimize the impact of overcrowding on students. But creativity can only go so far within finite walls. Question 2 would add multiple classrooms and labs, expand common spaces, and facilitate better traffic flow through the building. This would also move technology offices from PHS to new space at PMS, recovering more classroom space at PHS.
Question 3, $12.9M: The smallest of our four elementary schools by square footage, Littlebrook consistently accommodates the largest or second-largest student population among them. There is no longer a common space large enough for school assemblies, teachers must park on residential streets, and special services must often be delivered in the lobby. A comparatively small investment would have a huge impact here.
Like any savvy investor, taxpayers will have questions. For answers, please go to princetonk12.org/future. The FAQs link (upper right of page) addresses many questions you may have.
Growth in our town has happened and will continue to happen. Construction takes time, and our students desperately need us to act now so that these important expansions will come online in time to preserve the excellent public schools we expect. We owe it to our kids to meet their needs.