To the Editor:

Taxpayers can both support local schools and question the unprecedented amount, necessity, timing, and lack of cost efficient alternatives to the Board of Education’s proposed $130 million referendum. This largest ever new local tax debt, would be in addition to remaining current bond debt and the $90 million annual local school budgetary payments. Please read Princeton school system’s website referendum materials and question the Board of Education before the Board votes in a few days whether to have an October public vote. My concerns include absence of prioritization or links of biggest high school costs like atriums and amphitheater sitting; educational needs of students and teachers; the reliance on the arcane argument that 75 percent capacity triggers school overcapacity; the meager efforts to secure energy savings offsets; an eclectic mix of repairs and upgrades not yet vetted to construction codes; absence of a plan to hire third parties to control cost overruns and accurately calculate the effect on local taxes. The Princeton Board of Education is the only educational or charitable organization that can and does require you to personally assume thousands of dollars of debt. Let them know your concerns before they vote.

Christine Grant

Brooks Bend Road