Representatives of the Cranbury and Princeton school districts are continuing to work toward an agreement that will extend the send-receive relationship the districts have had since 1991.
The districts are in the midst of an agreement that will expire at the end of June 2020. Administrators are looking to extend the deal for 10 years past that date so Cranbury students of high school age can continue to attend Princeton High School.
On May 8, Cranbury Chief School Administrator and Principal Susan L. Genco said she could not provide an exact date when the deal will be finalized. She said it is hoped the new agreement will be finalized by the end of the current school year.
Cranbury Business Administrator Nicole Petrone said, “We’re trying to move it along as quickly as possible, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen before the end of the school year.”
On May 9, Princeton Public Schools Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane said attorneys representing both districts “have been fine-tuning the agreement.”
Princeton Board of Education President Patrick Sullivan said the board may vote on the new agreement during its May 22 meeting.
The Cranbury board would follow with a vote at a subsequent meeting.
Cochrane said if the item is on the May 22 agenda, board members may discuss the agreement. He called the pending deal “a pretty standard send-receive relationship.”
During the current school year, Cranbury is paying Princeton $4.8 million in tuition, a sum that represents the second largest source of revenue in Princeton’s school budget. As of early April, there were 276 Cranbury students attending Princeton High School.
Cochrane and Sullivan have talked of supporting a continuation of the arrangement with Cranbury.
Cranbury Board of Education member Evelyn Spann, who is her district’s representative to the Princeton board, said, “Cranbury fully wants the agreement to go forward. I can’t speak for the (Princeton) board, but given the legalities of what it would take to sever the agreement and the time it would take to sever the agreement, from my seat and my perspective, Princeton will also go forward with the send-receive.”
