In a five-page letter delivered Monday, Acting State Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington denied the Princeton Board of Education’s request to stay, pending resolution of an appeal, her February 28 decision approving Princeton Charter School’s (PCS) proposal to expand enrollment and implement a weighted admissions lottery.

The School Board appealed the acting commissioner’s decision to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court on March 10, and on March 17 the Board requested a stay to enjoin PCS from implementing the weighted lottery and expansion pending resolution of the appeal.

PCS, which already held its weighted admissions lottery in April, on Monday filed with the Princeton Planning Board an application for courtesy review of their plan to add a trailer to accommodate next year’s scheduled increase of 54 children while they work on plans for permanent facilities. “We will work on proposed plans for the additional classrooms and special education facilities over the summer and expect to release them to the public in the fall, “PCS Board President Paul P. Josephson said. KSS Architects of Princeton, selected after a public bid process, will design the additional space.

Mr. Josephson went on to comment on the success of the weighted lottery in helping to increase diversity and access for disadvantaged students. “Our percentage of low income students entering is 15 percent of the 96 open seats offered at our lottery, which reflects the Princeton community and is a resounding success,” stated Mr. Josephson. “We attribute this to the combination of the weighting and the sibling preference. As we anticipated, the sibling preference really amplified the chances for qualifying families because once one child got in all younger siblings also received seats.”

The Princeton School Board has also filed a complaint in Superior Court citing violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, and PCS subsequently filed a counterclaim.

Despite the acting commissioner’s denial and assertion that “the Board has not demonstrated that it is likely to prevail on the merits of its underlying claims,” the School Board remains optimistic that the courts will look more favorably on its appeal.

“We were not surprised by the acting commissioner’s decision as she was the one who approved the PCS expansion application in February,” Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane said. “The Board still has a case pending in the Appellate Court on the merits of her decision. The Board also has a case pending in the Civil Division regarding what the district believes was a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act when PCS created and approved its expansion application.”

Mr. Cochrane added, “Please know that as we await the outcome of those decisions in the courts, we continue to support and congratulate all the students in our town as they come to the conclusion of their school year.”

In her lengthy response to the Board’s request for a stay, Ms. Harrington wrote, “My decision to approve PCS’s application was specifically informed by a review of student performance on statewide assessments, operational stability, fiscal viability, public comment, and fiscal impact on sending districts.”

She noted “remarkable” student performance at PCS, “strong community demand for additional enrollment slots,” and “financial stability.” Ms. Harrington also pointed out that she and her staff had reviewed comments received from the Board and from the public both in favor of the amendment request and opposed to it and had taken those opinions into account in conjunction with the other factors.

Finally, according to the acting commissioner’s letter, “the Board has not shown that it will suffer immediate irreparable harm if a stay is not granted.” Though the Board has warned that the planned expansion would have severe financial impact on the district, Ms. Harrington’s letter noted that the Board had not met the requirement of showing “that the amendment would impact its ability to provide a thorough and efficient education.”

She mentioned that the Princeton Public Schools are ranked as the fifth highest spending district in the state for a district of its size, and one of the top rated school districts in the state. “The PCS expansion will only result in a two percent reduction in the Board’s budget through 2022,” she said.