Princeton School District Submits Bid For Wesminster Choir College: Report

PRINCETON, NJ — The Princeton Public School District has made an undisclosed offer to purchase the Westminster Choir College’s Princeton campus from Rider University, the Princeton Packet reports.

Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane told the newspaper the bid was due by June 7, according to the report. He didn’t say how much the bid was for, and Rider University wouldn’t discuss whether the school district had submitted a bid.

The school district’s Board of Education expressed interest in purchasing the campus at its June 28 meeting. In a statement subsequently released by the district, it expressed support for Rider’s desire to find a buyer for the college that allows Westminster to continue its outstanding legacy of music education.

“Should there not be a buyer willing to take on both the college and the campus, Princeton Public Schools would like to be in a position to explore acquisition of the campus in a way that would allow the District to carry on the college’s tradition of exceptional education," it went on to say in the statement at the time.

Rider University announced its intention to sell the campus in March. The decision came after the university initially said it was looking to close the campus and consolidate it with the campus in Lawrenceville to help with some of the university’s financial problems.

The university has said it will work with an outside entity to sell the college and the campus in a process that may take up to a year. One possibility is to sell the college itself, and then to sell the physical campus as a separate entity.

The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College was formed shortly after university announced its plans for consolidation. It has since filed a lawsuit to prevent the university from selling either the college or the campus.

Patch file photo