Mike Morsch, Regional Editor
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer, The Princeton School Board on Tuesday approved a $95 million budget for the fiscal year starting in July, with school taxes rising by around 4 percent., The total budget and the tax hike came in a little under the figures the district had released as recently as last week, ahead of Tuesday’s unanimous vote., For taxpayers, the tax levy to support the budget will be $78.5 million. At a home assessed at the average of $821,771, the tax hike comes out to $187.78., Employee salaries account for the bulk of the spending, $49.2 million, while non-discretionary spending accounts for $23.7 million. That gives officials little in the way of wiggle room., “The budget is driven, to some degree, by the enrollment increases,” said Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane during Tuesday’s school board meeting., He pointed to how the district is up to 3,756 students, with enrollment projected to grow amid some uncertainty about how much new affordable housing will be built in Princeton in the coming years. The school budget calls for adding more staff, including at Princeton High School, which is up to 1,586 students and expected to grow to 1,651 for the coming school year., In his remarks, he touched on the professional development for teachers over the summer to train in racial literacy, reading workshop, problem-based learning and technology., “The numbers tell a story,” Cochrane said. “They’re not about dollars and cents, they’re about values. You look at an institution – any institution – and you can determine their values by looking at their budget.”, The district, though, has lamented the cost of having to provide an additional $826,266 to the Princeton Charter School to pay for the enrollment expansion., Princeton Charter has permission from the state to add 76 more students phased in during the next two years; 54 of them for this coming school year in September, followed by 22 next year., To help pay for this year’s growth, the school budget calls for an extra $826,266 going to Princeton Charter., School Board President Patrick Sullivan said the district still is waging its legal challenge to the expansion.
