On the agenda for the Tuesday night Princeton school board meeting: Statement and discussion on cannabis, farewell to Robert Ginsberg
The school board for the Princeton Public Schools has issued a statement on cannabis that will be discussed at the public board meeting on Zoom tonight, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m.
A local cannabis task force with 23 members has recommended unanimously that Princeton allow retail cannabis businesses in certain areas of town. The Princeton Council will consider the issue more in the new year.
The board, in the statement that was originally drafted on Nov. 16 and revised on Monday, is calling on the municipality to do the following:
- Urge the enforcement of federal law with regard to drug-free school zones, requiring a buffer of 1,000 feet for any cannabis dispensaries situated near schools.
- Direct a portion of tax revenues from legal cannabis dispensaries to the Princeton Public Schools to defray costs associated with cannabis legalization, including a.) more comprehensive public and school-based education about cannabis use and its effects on health and wellness and the adolescent brain and b.) policy review, training and legal implications regulating the treatment of students and staff suspected of cannabis use on school property.
- Commit, along with licensed legal dispensary owners in town, to strictly enforcing the law prohibiting sales to minors.
“If there is an opportunity to learn what measures will be in place to monitor sales or potential sales to minors, the board welcomes that dialogue,” reads the statement.
Also on the agenda, the board will say farewell to members Dan Dart of Princeton and Peter Katz of Cranbury. The board will also pay tribute to Robert Ginsberg, who is retiring after working for the district for many years. School calendars for the next two years will be reviewed along with a revised calendar for the current academic year.
The school board is also slated to vote on a settlement with the union for staff members, the Princeton Regional Educational Support Staff Association, regarding unfair labor practices and comments about employee conduct. “Where the employee’s conduct as a representative is unrelated to his or her performance as an employee, the employer cannot express its dissatisfaction by exercising its power over the individual’s employment,” reads the proposed settlement agreement.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
The Princeton CTF used a thin veneer of social justice as a marketing wrapper. Meanwhile, the CTF has zero representation from the minority community and have not asked minority communities what they think. See what Paterson NJ School Board says:
“Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right,” said Kenneth L. Simmons, the president of the school board in Paterson, N.J., who opposes a proposal to permit cannabis start-ups in a city where one in four people lives in poverty.
“A revenue stream for City Hall,” he added, “is not prosperity, especially when it brings another possible pitfall closer to our youth.”
The CTF does not have a Board of Education representative and INVITES a black representative and a brown representative after it has already finalized recommendations. No Asian representative is invited. The other CTF members who left want to open their own pot shops in town. There are no opposing views but several cannabis lobby members on the CTF. The meager 15 page report is biased, lacks data and research and is a near promotion by the cannabis lobby to bring high potency pot closer to your families. 70 percent of NJ municipalities have said no to cannabis businesses, yet Princeton wants them in town?? Not for safety, well-being, cultural enrichment but for
GREED.