Planning Board To Review Princeton District Expansion Plans Thursday

PRINCETON, NJ – The Planning Board’s courtesy hearing for the Princeton Public Schools expansion plans has been scheduled for Thursday.

Earlier this month, school officials said they were surprised when the Planning Board decided to remove the review from its Sept. 5 agenda.

At the time, PPS said the rescheduling was “not requested by the district.”

However, the Planning Board soon cleared the air as to why the review was postponed.

“We postponed the scheduled capital review for the Princeton Public School’s additions to three schools after discussing process with them throughout July and August and waiting to see a Major Amendment to their Long Range Facilities Plan that they submitted in mid-August after our discussions. Their last Long Range Facilities Plan was adopted in 2018,” Planning Director Justin Lesko told Patch.

The Planning Board said they informed the district on Aug. 28, through their attorney, that they would be postponing the capital review until they received that Long Range Facilities Plan.

Lesko said they the Schools’ attorney then “informed us that the State Department of Education approved the Major Amendment to their Long Range Facilities Plan. As a result, the Board will provide the capital review for the three schools at their next meeting on September 19th.”

NJ state law allows local planning boards to hold a courtesy review of plans, to provide comments for consideration as part of the Department of Education review.

The PPS expansion plan is part of the now 2025 referendum where the school district will add new classrooms and core spaces at Community Park Elementary, Littlebrook Elementary Princeton Middle School and Princeton High School.

The vote on this referendum will take place in January 2025 depending upon the approval from the New Jersey Department of Education.

In May, PPS approved a motion to submit paperwork to the NJDOE seeking approval for the referendum.

The cost of the proposed new construction and renovations is between $85 to $89.5 million, which does not include potential state aid. The specific dollar amount and referendum questions for voters to consider will be determined after the NJDOE reviews the application and advises which portion of the costs are eligible for NJ State funding.