Information Sessions On Princeton Charter School Expansion At John Witherspoon Middle School Next Week

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton Superintendent of Public Schools Steve Cochrane will hold a pair of informational sessions concerning the Princeton Charter School’s expansion and its impact on the public school district.

Dr. Julia Sass Rubin, a professor with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, will also give a presentation comparing demographics and costs per pupil for both the public school district and the charter school, according to the school district’s website.

A session for parents only will be held in the John Witherspoon Middle School auditorium on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 10 a.m.

Parents and members of the community are invited to the session scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m., also in the John Witherspoon Middle School auditorium.

The Princeton Charter School has filed an application with the New Jersey Department of Education to introduce a weighted lottery system that would benefit economically disadvantaged children and to expand in grades K-2.

Cochrane has said that if students transferred to the charter school from the public school district, it wouldn’t be enough to reduce grade populations to the point where the district would need to employ fewer teachers and staff members, but it would be enough that the district would have to pay the charter school additional tuition, under state guidelines.

It also wouldn’t help with the public school district’s growing population problem, as Cochrane has said the biggest problem is at the high school level.

Princeton Charter School Board of Trustees President Paul Josephson has said the charter school won’t be taking students from the school district, but instead help accommodate the growing population of students.

He also said “it is plain that the enrollment spike is affecting all grades at PPS, not just the high school,” and it will continue in the coming months.