Princeton District Gives New Info On Proposed Housing & Referendum
PRINCETON, NJ – During the last Board of Education meeting, the school district said it was ready to determine how it will present the bond referendum to residents.
The district also presented some unreported information on new and proposed housing.
The school district will present a bond referendum to vote on January 28, 2025, for critical space needs and aging infrastructure.
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Business Administrator Matt Bouldin presented the community with updated demographic enrollment numbers.
The district recently learned that the 160-unit Franklin Avenue development has been delayed for about 18 months, with the new date being somewhere in 2027, Bouldin said.
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Superintendent Kathie Foster said the district recommends proposing three questions for the referendum.
With the potential tax impact of the Westminster acquisition, Foster said the district wants the community to decide on the level of investment they want to make in the district.
“With the enrollment projections, the timelines for projects, and the potential tax impact from the acquisition of the Westminster through the township, we want to be sensitive to the capacity of our taxpaying families,” Foster said.
“We believe all projects are needed going forward and we want to highlight that we removed the Community Park parking lot as we work collaboratively with the township to share some of their adjacent lots.”
The referendum will place “urgent need” questions up top like the need of HVAC, followed by “must-have” questions and finally focus on “will need shortly” questions.
Board member Beth Behrend from the district’s Long-Term Planning Committee said the referendum vote is a culmination of a multi-year process to address complex questions on capacity, rising enrollment, and existing housing.
“Since restarting this work post-COVID, the Board and administration have considered multiple rounds of enrollment data, developed a unique ‘Princeton multiplier’ to understand the impact of recent local development, heard advice from our professionals, and listened to excellent stakeholder feedback,” Behrend said.
She noted that the decision also took into consideration the most recent data available on enrollment, including move-ins from completed projects like Avalon Princeton Circle, which has already sent over 60 students to the district.
“We are confident that the referendum projects approved tonight are the appropriate five to seven-year solution to accommodate growth and maintain PPS programming. As our Board president has noted, we do not operate in a vacuum and we are sensitive to taxpayer concerns. While we believe all projects will be needed to meet the needs of our growing community, we believe the three-question format is the best approach to let voters decide their level of investment in the public schools,” Behrend.
The district will be providing more information on the referendum at its next meeting on Nov. 14.
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