To the editor:
I have written the following letter to Princeton Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane and Princeton Public School Board of Education President Patrick Sullivan.
I understand that the Princeton Board of Education has recently entered into an option agreement to purchase 100 Thanet Road, for a reported price of $6.5 million. The 15-acre site includes two existing three-story buildings totaling approximately 115,000 square feet.
This purchase presents an opportunity to expand the current intended use to provide administrative and operational facilities on Thanet Road and to also include housing the new school for grades 5 and 6. I anticipate that utilizing and renovating the existing Thanet Road buildings in this way, would realize a significant cost savings, in lieu of constructing a new school for fifth and sixth graders at Valley Road.
The estimated cost in the referendum budget for administrative offices and the new school totals approximately $52 million. In comparison, if one factors in a $150 per square foot allowance (which is generous) for renovation costs, plus the purchase price of $6.5 million, that would total about $24 million. Even with the added expense of constructing a gymnasium and other support structures to the Thanet site, the total expenditure should provide a significant cost savings from the estimated cost of $52 million that the BOE has budgeted for these facilities.
Increasing student enrollment in the Princeton Public Schools is related to Princeton’s need to provide more moderate and affordable housing. Selling the Valley Road site for this purpose would allow PPS to be instrumental in helping the Princeton community meet this obligation. The revenue derived from this sale would offset some of the cost that will be incurred by the construction as set forth in the referendum.
Charlie Yedlin
Princeton
