Encouraging Community to Invest in PPS and Support All Three Questions on Referendum
To the Editor:
We are writing to voice our support for all three questions in the upcoming school referendum on January 28.
We have lived in Princeton since 2016 and are the parents of four students in the Princeton Public Schools district. During this time, we have watched as Princeton has grown and our Littlebrook community has expanded. The year after our oldest children began at Littlebrook, the computer lab was taken away to allow room for a classroom. Over the next few years, our World Language (Spanish) classroom was converted into a fourth-grade classroom, storage closets were converted into rooms where special education students could be pulled out for additional support, the stage was converted into storage, occupational therapy was conducted in the halls, and students and parents met individually with teachers in the lobby. Last year, our music room was converted into a classroom and music was held on a cart. This year, our pre-k class was moved to Community Park to make way for yet another classroom.
The reason for these changes is simple. Princeton is growing and so is our school enrollment.
While some will say the birthrate in Princeton is down, we’d point out that the size of our community is not one driven by the birthrate but, instead, by a vibrant downtown, by our proximity to two metro areas, by a university that attracts scholars and researchers from around the world, and by a top-notch school district.
When our youngest children started kindergarten during the pandemic (admittedly, when enrollment was lower) there were approximately 40 other students in their grade. Today, in fourth grade, that number has grown to more than 80. Most of these students moved to Princeton in the past four years.
And it appears this growth is only expected to continue. The Avalon on Thanet Drive, which opened in 2023, has already added approximately 60 students to our school district. A drive past the shopping center shows that that two large apartment complexes will start leasing in the next month or so. An apartment complex on Herrontown Road is anticipated to open in the spring, and Princeton’s Council just approved another project on Stockton Street. The referendum, which provides $89 million in new funding for our schools, will allow for needed capital improvements so that our schools can keep pace with this growth.
Taking a wait-and-see approach does not solve the issue. In fact, kicking the can down the road only ensures that we will be faced with an even more dire situation in a few years when we will undoubtedly need to pay more, possibly without the benefit of state debt service aid.
As such, we encourage the community to invest in Princeton’s public schools and to support all three questions on the January 28 referendum.