By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Three candidates entered the race for the Princeton Board of Education ahead of next week’s filing deadline, in a year in which no incumbent might seek re-election.
Beth Behrend, Jenny Ludmer and Julie Ramirez are running for the three open seats in November. So far, they are the only ones who filed petitions, records at the Mercer County Clerk’s office showed as of Tuesday.
The filing deadline is July 31 at 4 p.m.
School board members are unpaid and serve three years.
The board already has experienced a steady turnover, with more senior members leaving in recent years. One-term incumbent Fern Spruill confirmed Tuesday that she is not running for re-election, while fellow one-term incumbents Justin Doran and Connie Witter could not be reached for comment.
Potentially three newcomers would join the school board, in January 2018, at a critical moment for the future of the district.
Officials are planning to put a facilities bond referendum on the ballot, in March, and looking to acquire the campus of Westminster Choir College. Also, the district is in the midst of a legal battle to overturn the approval that the Christie administration gave the Princeton Charter School to add 76 students. Behrend and Ramirez helped lead the fight against the Charter School earlier this year.
“I was disturbed by the lack of transparency in the PCS planning process and am troubled by the ongoing divisiveness in the community,” Ludmer said by email Tuesday. “I look forward to a future where all our children can be unified in one system.”
