The cliché reason for leaving public office – to spend more time with the children – never would have worked for former Princeton Township Mayor Michele Tuck-Ponder.
Even though she had been married to Rhinold Ponder for a couple of years, Mayor Tuck-Ponder had no kids when she ended her stint as mayor in 1999.
Then a daughter and a son came into the Tuck-Ponder family picture; instead of serving as an excuse to leave public office, her children fueled her return. Employing the “invaluable” education about the Princeton community and local government she gleaned as mayor, she decided in 2017 to run for – and subsequently won – a seat on the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education. She now finds herself in the midst of a school facilities expansion issue perhaps more difficult, intense and consequential than anything she faced as mayor.
Most people living in town know the mayor, and many can name all or some of the Princeton Council members. But the reverse is true when it comes to identifying members of the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education, said Michele. The ironic aspect to this fact is that “as mayor, my decisions had less impact on the pocketbooks of our residents than my decisions as school board member. The school tax portion of the property taxes are double the municipal portion,” she said.
The truth of her comment hit home for me on Saturday, Sept. 29, when I attended the community meeting of the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Association (WJNA). The purpose of the event, attended by 100 Princeton residents at the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, was to have a civil, respectful and thoughtful conversation about the Princeton Public Schools proposed $129.6 million facilities referendum package, said WJNA Co-chair Leighton Newlin, who presided over the meeting.
As he introduced the speakers, including members of the school board, I was embarrassed by my ignorance. Except for Michele, whom I have known since she came to town in 1991, I could identify not a single member of the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education – including Board President (often incorrectly referred to as chair) Patrick Sullivan.
All I knew was my fear: the very heavy shoe or more appropriately book was about to drop and knock me right out of town. According to my nightmare, the massive scope of the facilities improvements would be the impetus for my landlord to raise my rent to an unaffordable level and thus force me out of the town where I have lived, worked and volunteered for four decades.
The school board ignorance syndrome afflicting far more than just Pam Hersh is particularly problematic, said Michele, because of the timing of the situation. The public is expected to vote on Dec. 11 – as opposed to the General Election Day on Nov. 6 – to fund at least a portion of this $129.6 million facilities plan.
Michele was the one on the board who voted against the Dec. 11 date for the election, because of the “transparency and representation” issue. Typically, the only people who would show up for a special school election two weeks before Christmas would be the “insiders,” that very small number of people intimately knowledgeable about the affairs of the school board and the intricacies of the issue, said Michele.
“It is a huge misconception that when you are on the school board that your constituents are the kids and the parents. Your constituents are those paying the bills for these services,” said Michele, an attorney who now is interim CEO of Destination Imagination, Inc., a leading educational nonprofit dedicated to teaching students the skills needed to succeed in school and their careers.
The topics of transparency in the decision-making process, raising awareness of the school board issues and its members, and incorporating a broader swathe of citizens into the process were among the reasons motivating Michele to throw herself yet again into the high-stress and high-drama job of serving as an elected government official in Princeton.
The other priorities articulated by Michele have less to do with process and more to do with making substantive changes. For example, she would like to inspire better services to address educational disparities among students, increase the diversity among the faculty members and senior administrators, and “hold the line on budget while addressing the needs to bring our facilities to the level that will support achievement advancement for all students.” As mayor, facilities and infrastructure projects, such as the Princeton Municipal Complex and the Princeton Public Library, were a major part of her agenda, and she understands the importance of educating and communicating with the public about these projects.
“We need to ensure that we have adequate and appropriate facilities to support our educational mission, without unduly further burdening taxpayers,” said Michele.
And that is why the Witherspoon-Jackson community forum played such an important role in the public education process, and perhaps influenced the school board members to dive deeply and with real data and facts make a decision on how not to “unduly further burdening taxpayers,” she said.
Michele thanked the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Association for its “crucially important” efforts to engage all residents in the community. In Leighton Newlin’s words that echo Michele’s: “Whether you are a parent of children in the school system, a senior citizen on a fixed income, an individual or family without children, or someone struggling to keep up with the staggering increase in property assessments and taxes or rent, your opinion is important – and it matters.”
They both urged residents to take a crash course, to pay attention and learn as much as possible about the issues being decided right now by the school board members and to offer their opinions – and “don’t worry about how trivial it may seem or how it will be received. Just offer it,” said Leighton.
Okay, here is my trivial and perhaps dumb suggestion. The school administration should rent office space at 281 Witherspoon St. rather than build new space. The busses and administrators do not have to live together. But I still want to live here and would like the elected officials to figure out how I can keep living here – without living in a school bus.
