The Princeton Public Schools Board of Education has decided to forgo the most expensive capital projects it was considering seeking voter approval for in December, instead agreeing on Oct. 9 to put a nearly $27 million referendum on the ballot to pay for infrastructure projects at district schools.
The truncated proposal does not call for building a new school for fifth- and sixth-graders, buying 15 acres on Thanet Circle for current and future facilities needs or making major renovations to Princeton High School.
At $26.9 million, the referendum would provide air conditioning in the classrooms of each elementary school as well as in each cafeteria, security improvements at all schools, four additional classrooms at the high school and upgrades to the library at Littlebrook Elementary School, among other things.
The referendum is scheduled for Dec. 11 and if it is approved, the school tax increase starting in 2020 would be $54 on the average assessed home of about $837,000.
“I think we have a way forward that seems to have most people somewhat satisfied,” board President Patrick Sullivan said on Oct. 10.
Sullivan proposed the leaner plan with an eye toward having continued community engagement and then having another referendum in 2019. He is leaving the board at the end of his current term in December, so he won’t be on the board when, and if, officials decide to have another ballot question.
“It’s really … part of an overall process that gets us to where we want to go in a slightly elongated period of time,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think we will be happy with where we end up and I think the way we have done it is a way I think takes a lot of the anger and the frustration out of the dialogue.”
By going in this direction, officials shaved off more than $100 million from what they originally had contemplated putting on the ballot this year. Once, the proposed referendum was a little more than $137 million, but it came down to $129.6 million. More recently, officials had floated a proposal for $82.5 million.
In some ways, the board found itself pulled in opposite directions. On one hand, residents complained about the tax impact of the proposed referendum and raised other questions about what officials were considering. Other residents felt the investment was necessary, coming at a time when enrollment forecasts show more students will enter the public schools in the upcoming years.
The process toward holding a referendum hit a snag that threw off the construction timeline officials had planned.
Board member Dafna Kendal said on Oct. 10 that approvals from the state Department of Education for the $129.6 million worth of projects came in later than officials had expected. The delay meant officials would not have been able to open the new grades 5-6 school in time for 2020 as they were planning to, she said.
“These are … significant dollars we’re talking about,” she said. “Given the delays in the approval from the Department of Education, we have more time now to engage with members of the public.”
“One of the things we all agree on is that the buildings need to be upgraded,” Sullivan said. “We understand the buildings need to be upgraded and I think we also all agree that we need to do something for our kids.”
Asked what this week’s decision means for the prospect of buying the Thanet Circle property, Sullivan said, “I think we’re just going to have to see. There may be other options.”
District officials were going to acquire the Thanet Circle property to locate central administration out of the Valley Road Building, which would have been demolished for the new grades 5-6 school.