Princeton Planning Board abruptly cancels Sept. 5 courtesy review of school district’s construction plans

The Princeton Planning Board removed the courtesy review of the Princeton Board of Education’s construction plans from the upcoming agenda for Thursday, Sept. 5 last week, with no explanation.

In May, the school board voted to ask the state to approve a bond referendum proposal for improvements to Community Park Elementary School, Littlebrook Elementary School, Princeton Middle School, and Princeton High School.

Construction and renovation costs are estimated to be between $85 to $89.5 million. The specific dollar amount and the referendum question for voters to consider will be determined after the state reviews the application and tells the district how much state aid it will receive if voters approve the project.

Originally the referendum was scheduled for November, but school officials said the timing of the planning and community meetings, as well as doing their own research and analysis, necessitated a later December 2024 or January 2025 referendum.

The New Jersey Department of Education’s approval of the referendum proposal and state debt service aid are expected in mid-October or early November. The Department of Education approved the district’s Long Range Facility Plan Major Amendment on Aug. 28.

The municipality received the school district’s plans for the courtesy review on July 30. Under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-31, a public agency such as a school board “shall not act” on a project without the recommendation of the planning board, “or until 45 days have elapsed after such reference without receiving such recommendation.”

A courtesy review is a review of a project by a planning board in New Jersey that is requested by another separate government entity or school district. School districts and government entities don’t need a site plan review or approval for a construction project. The planning board can either recommend the project or not recommend it.

Planet Princeton reached out to Louise Wilson, chair of the planning board, on Thursday, Aug. 29, to understand why the district’s plans were removed from the agenda for review. But as of the evening of Sept. 3, she did not respond to questions.

A new date has not been scheduled. School district officials seem to be in the dark about why the meeting was canceled. Superintendent of Schools Kathie Foster and School Board President Dafna Kendal said in a joint statement Tuesday that school officials did not request that the courtesy review of the district’s plans be removed from the agenda. “We don’t know why (the review was canceled),” they said. “We did not request the delay.”

School officials said the district’s architect advised them that the planning board’s delay won’t slow down the New Jersey Department of Education’s bond referendum approval.

New housing developments and PILOTs in desirable Princeton mean more students but less tax revenue for schools

Princeton’s public schools are educating more children and they will continue to see growth in the coming years, in large part due to the municipality’s affordable housing plan, which is bringing more than 1,100 new apartment units to Princeton. Under the plan, luxury apartment developments are being built with a 20 percent set aside of affordable housing for most new developments. Meanwhile, municipal officials have negotiated 30-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) deals with the developers that reduce the developers’ tax burden but shut the school district out of receiving any tax revenue from the developments for the duration of the agreements. Almost all of the PILOT money goes into the municipal coffers., 95 percent. The county receives five percent of the PILOT payments.

Municipal officials have not included the school district in any of the PILOT discussions or offered the district any PILOT money to date. There is no agreement between the municipality and the district to share any PILOT money.

PILOTs benefits municipal governments because they don’t have to share the revenue with the schools. The money raised from the PILOTs is separate from tax revenue. Municipalities can raise taxes up to the tax cap limit and still have another separate pot of money to spend from the PILOTs. Municipal officials who benefit from such arrangements will often argue that the school district won’t be hurt by the PILOTs and “the district will still get its money.” What that really means is that the taxpayers will make up the difference, making Princeton even more unaffordable for many longtime residents already struggling to pay their property taxes. School district programs could also be cut if cost increases exceed the tax cap and the state does not issue large enough tax cap waivers to make up for increases in costs.

Bond referendum details

• Under the proposed bond referendum, Community Park Elementary School and Littlebrook Elementary School, the two elementary schools located closest to the new housing units, will be enlarged. Each school will have six more classrooms.
• Community Park Elementary will house four classrooms for each grade level, kindergarten through fifth. This will allow the school to offer two dual language immersion program sections per grade.
• Community Park and Littlebrook will have additional “flex” classroom spaces for enrollment bubbles and potential students generated from future housing projects. The additional classrooms will help prevent overcrowding and can be repurposed for special and support spaces as grade-level classrooms.
• Spaces will be added or renovated at Community Park Elementary and Littlebrook Elementary.
• At Community Park Elementary, an addition at the back of the building will accommodate classrooms, a gymnasium, and a multipurpose room.
• The music room, the library, the kitchen, and the cafeteria will also be renovated at Community Park Elementary. The soccer field in the back of the building will be realigned to provide space for the addition.
• At Littlebrook Elementary, the new addition will house classrooms and a vocal music room. Several rooms in the existing building will be renovated for student support services.
• Renovations at Princeton Middle School will create seven new rooms, including new science classrooms. Updates also include reconfigured rooms for vocal music and band, accommodating larger ensembles, an expanded cafeteria, and multipurpose space to accommodate gym classes and assemblies.
• At Princeton High School, approximately $10 million would be used to upgrade the building’s HVAC system.
• Renovations at Princeton High School would include reconfiguring space currently occupied by the technology department and the Numina Gallery to create flexible classrooms that could be used as instructional or gallery space. The design features a wrap-around corridor with designated wall space and lighting conducive to the display of artwork. Three new flexible classrooms would be created as part of the redesign.  

Westminster Choir College instead?

A local opinion writer speculated this week that the governing body would be discussing the purchase of Westminster Choir College from Rider University during the governing body’s closed session on Tuesday. Rumors have been floating around for the past year or more that municipal officials want to buy Westminster Choir College and then force the school district into some kind of property swap. It is unclear how they could force a swap since the municipality and school district are governed separately.

Municipal officials are eager to expand the municipal complex and firehouse footprint on Witherspoon Street. The district’s Valley Road administration building is just across the street from the municipal complex. Such a swap would not solve many of the school district’s problems. It is unclear how much it would cost to demolish buildings on the Westminster property, most of which have been vacant and without heat or air conditioning for about four years. A new school building would cost $100 million or more, and the district would still need to spend money on improvements at the other schools. Plus a new school would mean more expenses in terms of paying a whole extra set of administrators, teachers, and staff members. It is unclear whether voters in Princeton would support such a plan, which would total more than $200 million when you combine the current proposed referendum with a plan to expand to the Westminster Choir College campus.

Several years ago, school officials considered trying to buy Westminster Choir College and also separately proposed building a new school, but Princeton voters rebelled against both proposals due to the costs and the options of using existing district properties for expansion instead.

It is unclear how the municipality would buy Westminster, whether officials would try to use eminent domain to buy it, and how much the deal would cost.

If buying Westminster and swapping Valley Road is the mayor and council’s plan, it appears that municipal officials have also kept school district officials in the dark about it. If this is the plan, it is unclear whether the cancellation of the planning board meeting is related to the municipality’s plans.

When asked whether the school district has been in talks with the mayor and council about plans for Westminster Choir College Tuesday, Foster and Kendal said no in a statement.

“The school board isn’t aware of action or definitive plans at this time that involves any school board properties or Westminster Choir College,” they said.

The Westminster Choir College property has also been the subject of more than one lawsuit against Rider University. A group of alumni and students sued Rider over the closure of the school for sacred music, and Princeton Theological Seminary also filed a suit. The litigation has been dragging on for seven years and is expected to continue for four or five more years. Even if the seminary settles with Rider, the plaintiffs in the other case plan to continue their lawsuit.