Four seek two seats in township and two seek one seat in borough.
By: Jeff Milgram
In the end, the election to fill three seats on the Princeton Regional Board of Education on April 16 may be a question of how much value voters place on stability.
For the first time in recent memory, all three board members whose terms expire have decided to run again. And, for the first time in recent memory, they will all have competition.
And while the candidates agree that the $81.3 million school renovation and expansion project due to start in September will dominate board attention, the question remains: Who is best able to get the district through what everyone concedes will be four years of construction and the displacement and turmoil that will result?
Running for one seat open in Princeton Borough are incumbent Frank Strasburger and challenger Michael Mostoller.
The Rev. Strasburger, 56, who holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Princeton University and a master’s in educational administration from Johns Hopkins, is associate rector of Trinity Church. He came to the ministry after several years teaching in private schools near Baltimore, where he grew up.
As vice president of the school board, the Rev. Strasburger is credited with helping the district get $650,000 in donations from Princeton University and the Princeton Theological Seminary. He also worked to get university permission for the district to use some athletic fields during construction.
"Three years ago, the teacher contract was a year overdue; the reserve fund was dangerously close to zero; administrators were departing as quickly as they were arriving; our plant was being held together with Scotch tape; and all levels of the system were undermined by poor morale," he said. "Of course, the job isn’t finished. Not only do we now have to build the new facilities we’ve planned; we need, too, to take advantage of the momentum we’ve developed to concentrate on what happens in those facilities. As a former educator myself, that’s what I care most about," he said.
Mr. Mostoller, 64, an architect and educator, has bachelor’s degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s in architecture from Harvard. He teaches architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
He said he has been asked to run for the school board. "The time wasn’t ripe (before), it seemed," he said.
While acknowledging that it would be virtually impossible to change the design plans for the school construction, he believes it is not too late to consider the impact the project will have on traffic, on the neighborhoods and on safety.
He wants to create biweekly "stakeholders" forums to review construction progress.
He also wants the district to do more for the students who are not at the highest end of the academic scale and need more individual attention.
"I see, as a parent and as an individual, students who are not entirely successful in our schools," he said. "I would use architecture and the arts as a way to educate the whole person."
As a former high school lacrosse player, Mr. Mostoller is interested in sports and wants to see the district hire, and then retain, qualified coaches.
As for stability on the board, Mr. Mostoller is not impressed.
"Change and flux is not a bad idea on boards," he said.
Running for two seats from Princeton Township are incumbents Jeffrey Spear and Barbara Prince and challengers Walter Bliss and Catherine Knight.
Mr. Spear, 59, who grew up in Seattle, got his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington and his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. He has taught at Princeton University and is currently an associate professor at New York University, specializing in Victorian studies.
In 1999, he was elected to a Princeton Regional Board of Education that was known for its rancor and micromanaging district affairs.
"As an incumbent, I’m very proud of reforming the board," Mr. Spear said.
But one of his biggest achievements, he said, is the $750,000 21st Century Learning Centers IDEAS grant that provides after-school enrichment and tutorial help at the district’s schools.
He now wants to encourage outside funding for the IDEAS centers, which bridge the gap between the affluent Princeton and the economically disadvantaged Princeton, he said. He wants academic programs to get more creative, and less reliant on advanced placement classes.
He also wants the educational program to be more comprehensive, with technical training such as computer repair giving job skills to students who are not bound for college.
Ms. Prince, 51, a native of Manhattan, has a bachelor’s degree from Prescott College in Arizona and a master’s in education from Rutgers University.
Ms. Prince thinks board experience matters. "Nothing about being on a school board is intuitive," she said. "People come in and expect they can work direct change about things at their children’s schools. … The fact is you can’t do that on the board. … You have the entire community (to consider), not just your own interests.
"I think the construction should not be the main issue because we have excellent professionals working for us," Ms. Prince added.
She believes the teachers’ contract "and to make sure the needs of the staff, during construction, will be met," will be extremely important this coming year.
She supports a broadening of the curriculum to include more technical arts courses. And, she said, community liaison committees have been set up at each school to deal with construction, "so everyone is kept in the loop."
Mr. Bliss, 57, an expert on land use and litigation, grew up in Bergen County and came to Princeton in the fall of 1962. He studied history and Russian studies and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. He went on to Columbia, where he received a master’s in political science and a law degree.
"I know that education is more than facilities," Mr. Bliss said. "But the project, $81 million, is going to test our mettle, our priorities."
He believes site issues can be resolved and he believes he can help the board maintain good relations with the PHS neighbors and local governing bodies.
But Mr. Bliss is not interested solely in the construction. "We should find every opportunity for students to excel," he said.
And one subject he hopes the board will explore is preschool.
"It’s really very tough for parents of modest means to find preschool, and it’s tougher than it ought to be," he said.
Ms. Knight, 46, who holds a bachelor of architecture degree from Syracuse University, grew up under the influence of her father, an engineer. Her parents encouraged her to pursue architecture, which combined two of her favorite subjects, art and mathematics.
Ms. Knight also wants to make sure the construction at the Princeton schools proceeds on time and budget and fulfills the program needs of the district.
She acknowledges that the district and the Princeton Soccer Association, of which she is president, may compete for playing fields. "We’re going to have to make some adjustments," Ms. Knight said. If elected to the board, she said she would step down early as president of the soccer association.
"I believe it is important for the district to strive for excellence in all areas the arts and academics as well as athletics," Ms. Knight said.
"When my children were at Johnson Park School, I founded and directed the Art for Kids program. This program brought visiting artists into the school to work with our children," Ms. Knight said.
She believes that communication during the construction is important.
"We must encourage full participation from all members of our diverse community and ensure that all voices are heard," she said.