Four candidates so far have jumped into the race for the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education ahead of next week’s filing deadline to enter the contest for three seats.
Board members Dafna Kendal and Betsy Baglio became the latest to say they would join a field that already includes first-time candidates Mary Clurman and Daniel Dart. Until this week, neither incumbent had publicly stated whether they intended to run for re-election.
“It has been a privilege for us to serve our community and our district’s children in this capacity, and we are committed to continuing our service and providing continuity of leadership on the Board of Education during this critical time for our school district,” Kendal and Baglio said in a joint statement on July 23.
Clurman and Dart already filed paperwork with the Mercer County Clerk’s Office to be on the Nov. 6 ballot, while Baglio and Kendal had not done so as of July 23. Baglio said in a text message that they would take that step by the July 30 deadline.
Kendal and Baglio, elected in 2015, are the only incumbents seeking re-election.
Board President Patrick Sullivan previously said he would not try for a third term. At just over six years, Sullivan is the longest serving member of a board that has seen a steady turnover of its membership in recent years.
Kendal and Baglio are the first incumbents to run for re-election since Sullivan did so in 2015.
This year’s election comes at the same time the school district intends to propose a $129.6 million bond referendum to pay for a new school, buy 15 acres of land and improve other schools. It is a proposal of which Dart is critical.
Dart said in a phone interview this week that he plans to vote against “a needlessly expensive facilities plan” in which there “was no opportunity for community input into the design of the plan.”
He said on July 23 that the proposal, the largest in district history, was approved and “rushed off” to the state Department of Education in March “before anybody had an opportunity to study the plan, critique the plan and come up with alternative plans.”
Dart, 62, has lived in Princeton since 2002. He sent one of his daughters through the public schools and has another daughter in the school system who is due to enter the fifth grade in September.
“I’m a proud and committed supporter of the Princeton public schools,” he said.
Retired from a career in the financial sector, he has been involved with nonprofit groups, including the Corner House Foundation and Trinity Church. He filed on July 19 to run for the school board.
“I’m at the giving-back stage of my life,” he said.
Clurman, the first candidate to enter the race, is a retired teacher. She has been active in Princeton Democratic politics, although school board races are nonpartisan.