PACKET EDITORIAL, June 14
By: Packet Editorial
With seniors counting the days until graduation, and everyone else panting in anticipation of imminent escape from sweltering classrooms for the long-awaited summer vacation, another eventful year is about to come to a close in the Princeton Regional Schools.
In many ways, it has been more eventful for what didn’t happen than for what did happen.
The Board of Education didn’t hem and haw and bicker and backbite and break down into warring factions over the selection of a new superintendent. Board members didn’t clash publicly over the proposed budget, or engage in endless angst-ridden discourse over the wisdom of placing a second question on the ballot. The board and the teachers’ union didn’t wait until the 11th hour or, as they often do, dillydally until long after midnight before settling on a new contract.
Parents upset about the evident inequality between the school district’s support for boys’ and girls’ sports teams didn’t have to go through an extensive and expensive court battle in order to resolve the issue amicably. Taxpayers annoyed about rising property levies didn’t take their frustration out on the schools. Students irritated about the continuing disruption caused by the district’s expansion and renovation program, particularly at Princeton High School, didn’t let it affect their performance on standardized tests, or their enviable record of gaining admission to the nation’s finest colleges and universities.
In short, it was an unusually peaceful year in the Princeton Regional Schools, despite a number of circumstances that might, in earlier years, have caused considerable disruption. In a school district that had a revolving door of controversial superintendents for about a decade, the transition from Claire Sheff Kohn to Judith Wilson was remarkably smooth and seamless. While neighboring Montgomery was experiencing a property-tax revolt in the April school election, Princeton managed to win voter approval of an equally large budget and a significantly larger second question. Three years ago, Princeton’s teachers staged a two-day strike at the start of the school year; this year, they ratified a new contract months before the old one was to expire.
Not so long ago, each of these conditions might have brought out the worst in school board members, administrators, parents, teachers, students and taxpayers. That none of them developed into major conflicts this year is a tribute to the calming influence of the district’s leadership, the professionalism of the district’s staff, and the support of a community whose trust and confidence they have worked so hard to inspire.
In Dr. Kohn and Ms. Wilson, the district has had successive superintendents who listen and respond to ideas, concerns and complaints with equanimity and dispatch. In turn, these superintendents have worked with a respectful, experienced school board that gives them both the policy direction they require and the administrative flexibility they deserve to do the job right. The faculty and staff long the vital backbone of the district, especially during times when the board and administration were in such disarray continue to be the envy of other districts across New Jersey and around the country.
And the students just keep on shining. From the four elementary schools to John Witherspoon Middle School to Princeton High School, the consistently high level of performance of the district’s students is the best indicator that the Princeton Regional Schools continue to get the job done. For longtime Princetonians, the fact that the job is now getting done in an atmosphere that is a lot more collaborative and a lot less chaotic is all the more reason to be pleased and proud.