By Philip Curran and Erica Chayes Wida, Staff Writers
High-level officials from the Princeton Public Schools and Princeton Charter School have met twice in private about the proposed enrollment expansion the Charter School has requested from the state., The school district and Charter School have been embroiled in a legal battle and public relations fight over the proposal., “I am happy to say that we have been encouraged by two meetings that we have had with the district leadership, and we are working together on a solution to ease any financial impact on Princeton Public Schools,” Lawrence Patton, the head of the Charter School, told the community at the Princeton Council meeting on Monday. “We have some good ideas and some specific avenues that we will continue to pursue.”, In his remarks, Mr. Patton did not elaborate on what those avenues were or detail the substance of the conversations. Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane, who also attended the council meeting, said on his way out of the meeting that the two sides are talking., “We are trying to still reach some resolutions through private conversations that we’ve been having,” said Mr. Cochrane, who opposes the expansion proposal. “The process involves multiple avenues. So we’re going to take all legal action that we can to oppose the expansion, we’re going to continue with the political advocacy … and we’re going to have conversations that allow us to come together and put productive, creative ideas on the table.”, Pat Sullivan, the district Board of Education president, emphasized at a board meeting Tuesday night the public and charter school’s discussions are private and confidential, but have made some progress and are continuing to make progress in hopes to find a way to “coexist financially and educationally over the long term.” As negotiations proceed behind closed doors, Mr. Sullivan still publicly urged the Charter School to withdraw its application from the state., “They should do it now and work in good faith to find an agreeable solution or work until we decide that no solution is possible. This request is fair and reasonable. Withdraw this destructive application now without prejudice,” Mr. Sullivan said. “If we don’t come to a solution, you can always reapply. Let’s sit down as partners and work something out., “In the meantime, if Princeton Charter would like to change their lottery so they have a more representative sample of students in the community in terms of minorities and people with disabilities, we encourage them to change that lottery formula now. They don’t need to apply to any commissioner to do that,” he said., The Charter School, a K-8 public school that operates independently of the Princeton Board of Education, is seeking approval from the state Department of Education to expand its enrollment by 76 more pupils, phased in over two years. At the moment, the school is home to 348 pupils, who are admitted by a lottery. The Charter School is seeking to enroll more low-income students with a weighted 2-to-1 lottery for those who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and at the same time help with an enrollment increase at district schools., But the request has been met with fierce resistance by the school district, which says the expansion would mean it would have to provide nearly $1.2 million more per year to the Charter School on top of the roughly $5 million it already provides in funding., Mr. Cochrane, in addressing the Princeton Council, sought to frame the impact of forgoing $1.2 million by saying it is “equivalent to the cost of 15 teachers and is more than the cost of our entire athletics program.”, He said the money also would eat up nearly all the extra tax revenue the district could raise through the 2 percent cap — $1.4 million — for the district budget. He said that money is used in different ways, from hiring new staff to meet rising enrollment to paying raises to teachers., “Without that increase, we would be forced to cut both teachers and programs, class sizes will rise and opportunities for our students will decline,” Mr. Cochrane said., The district has sued the Charter School seeking to block the expansion proposal., But the Charter School sought to refute the information the school district is attributing to the impact of the enrollment request., “Contrary to the narrative that we’ve been hearing, we believe that the modest increase in enrollment at PCS, phased in over two years, will not financially devastate the Princeton Public School district,” Mr. Patton told the council., Both men found themselves appearing before the governing body on a night when council voted 4-1 for a resolution asking acting State Education Commissioner Kim Harrington to deny the request. She will have the final say, in a decision expected in March., “This decision is definitely not against the Charter School,” said Councilman Lance Liverman, before voting for the measure that he had helped work on., Earlier in the meeting, Councilman Timothy K. Quinn, a former school board president, corrected himself about remarks he had made about the issue at a council meeting two weeks ago. He said at that meeting that Mr. Cochrane believes a merger between the district and the Charter School would eliminate the need for facilities bond referendum the district is preparing for., On Monday, Mr. Quinn said he had “misspoke” and “misquoted” the superintendent., At present, all conversations between Princeton Public and Princeton Charter Schools negotiating a possible compromise remain closed to the public, though Mr. Cochrane said the two parties are putting “a wide range of ideas on the table, both dealing with the economics of the situation but also with vision about curriculum, instruction and what could be possible.”, The next private meeting will be held Thursday afternoon, Jan. 26.
