The Princeton Public Schools Board of Education is on track to vote in early September to put a $129.6 million facilities referendum on the ballot this fall.
The board meeting scheduled for Aug. 28 has been rescheduled for Sept. 4, when the vote to place the referendum on the ballot is expected to take place. District administrators need to meet election-related deadlines to have a referendum in November.
Board President Patrick Sullivan said on Aug. 20 he expects the board vote to be a formality.
District officials plan to split the referendum into two questions. The first question would call for $82.5 million in projects, including constructing a new school for fifth- and sixth-graders at the site of the Valley Road School. The second question would call for $47 million worth of projects at Princeton High School.
“I do believe it’s a good, well thought out plan,” Sullivan said.
As a school district, Princeton finds itself in the midst of a growth spurt. District administrators have talked about enrollment topping more than 4,500 students by 2027.
“I think everyone recognizes there’s a need here, that the enrollment is going up,” Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane said on Aug. 20. “We have more kids who are coming to us. We have to find space for them.”
When they head to the polls on Nov. 6. voters could approve both questions, and thus pass the entire package, or they can opt to approve only question one. District administrators have said question one has to pass to give question two a chance of passing.
If the entire package is approved, school taxes would increase by $289 starting in 2020, on the average home assessment of $837,074, officials have shown.
Asked if officials intend to mount a public relations campaign to urge voters to support the referendum, Sullivan said he did not think the district “has any plans to encourage people to vote a certain way.” He said administrators would work on communications plans “that lay out the facts.”
“I think the facts need to be disseminated clearly so people understand what they’re voting on,” he said. “There’s still a lot of misinformation out there about the merits and the actual details of this referendum.”
