By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Charter School could find out this week if the Christie administration approves the school’s request to expand its enrollment by 76 more pupils., A decision by acting Secretary of Education Kim Harrington is expected to “come any day,” said state Department of Education spokesman David Saenz on Wednesday., “I’ve heard nothing on timing,” said Paul Josephson, president of the Charter School Board of Trustees, by phone Wednesday. He said officials are “hopeful” and looking forward to a positive outcome., “But like everyone else,” he continued, “we’re anxious to get an answer.”, “We have no insight into when the commissioner might make her decision,” said Princeton School Board President Patrick Sullivan on Wednesday. “We hope that when she does, she takes into account the interests of our entire community, especially all of our children who, at some point in their career, attend our public schools.”, The state last year waited until the end of February before announcing decisions on applications to open new charter schools and expand and renew existing ones., “It could be this week,” Saenz said of a decision on the Princeton Charter School proposal., Adding more children at the 348-student k-8 Charter School has been opposed by Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane, the Board of Education and its allies. That led the district to sue in Superior Court to block the expansion, prompted a countersuit by the Charter School and highlighted the animosity many in the community have felt toward the school., The school district has argued the expansion would mean $1.16 million more per year that it would have to provide to the Charter School, a move Cochrane has said likely would lead to cuts at Princeton High School. Princeton Charter gets its money from state and local taxes., Saenz said the state, as part of its decisions on charter schools, takes into account comments and information from school districts and members of the public., The buildup to the decision comes with a civil rights group, the Latino Coalition of New Jersey, filing a civil rights complaint with the federal government against the Charter School. The school “is segregated by income, English proficiency, special education status, race and ethnicity,” the group alleges., “The Princeton Charter School is educating a dramatically different population of students than Princeton Public Schools in terms of income, English proficiency, special needs, race and ethnicity,” the complaint read in part. “Furthermore, the Princeton Charter School has not reflected the population of students who attend Princeton Public Schools in terms of income, race, ethnicity, English proficiency or special needs, for most of its 20-year existence.”, The organization also said it has asked Harrington to reject the expansion proposal and close the school., Josephson last week released a statement from head of school Lawrence Patton responding to the allegation., “Unfortunately, this is exactly the same baseless complaint this same organization has filed against other charter schools in Monmouth and Middlesex counties in recent weeks,” his statement read in part. “The pattern is obvious – the organization identifies a high-performing charter school with a pending expansion request with the New Jersey Department of Education and in the days before a decision is rendered, puts out a press release alleging civil rights violations. This tactic is clearly designed to improperly influence the department’s decision on the school’s expansion request while defaming the school and its families in the process.”
