By Donald Gilpin

The Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) has withdrawn two of the components of its $130 million bond referendum application to expand and renovate district schools, and will seek to purchase two buildings on 15 acres on Thanet Road rather than a Herrontown Road building previously under option..

Driven by the availability of the 100-101 Thanet Road property for $6.5 million as a more practical alternative to the earlier plan, the new proposal will allow the district to relocate administrative offices to Thanet Road and drop plans to construct administrative offices on school property next to John Witherspoon Middle School.

The Thanet Road property, located off Terhune Road with about 110,000 feet of office space, would also accommodate transportation and maintenance offices, as well as school bus parking.

Since students would not be on the Thanet Road property, no additional approvals from the DOE would be necessary, and, according to PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane, the timetable
remains on schedule for an October 2 referendum.

Citing “cost benefits to public schools and to tax payers,” Cochrane noted that the new plan will reduce expenditures without the need for new construction for administration offices, transportation, and maintenance. Final figures are not yet available for the revised, reduced cost referendum proposal.

Cochrane added that the 15 acres could allow flexibility for additional athletic fields, as well as future possibilities of a preschool and a favorable site for another school “20 or 30 years down the road.”

The PPS referendum proposal, addressing a need for more space and major infrastructure upgrades, will be reviewed by the NJDOE in the coming weeks. After suggestions and, presumably, approval from the DOE, the Princeton BOE must finalize and approve what goes on the ballot 60 days prior to the October 2 public referendum vote.

If voters approve the referendum, construction would begin in the summer of 2019, with completion of the 5/6 school tentatively projected for the fall of 2020, and high school renovations continuing in multiple phases through the summer of 2023.

PPS will continue to work on refining plans for the referendum and sharing information with the community including several presentations on dates to be determined.