Volume LXX, Number 41
www.towntopics.com
Princeton Schools Address Widespread Challenges of Crowding
Some Words from the Director of VolunteerConnect . . . . 9 New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Opens Season with Grieg Concerto . . 16 Princeton Football Storms Past Georgetown 31-17, Primed to Begin Ivy Stretch Drive with Brown Clash . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 PHS Boys’ Cross Country 2nd at Eastern States, Set Stage for Run At Mercer County Crown . . . . . . 34
Reading Jane Eyre and Visiting Morgan Exhibit on Charlotte Brontë’s 200th Birthday . . . . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 19 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 41 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Music/Theater . . . . . . 16 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 40 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 41 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Home Improvement Pages 21-29
Demography, the statistical study of populations, is not an exact science. The consequences of that fact are currently playing out in the Princeton Public Schools (PPS), where the student population this year is 184 higher than anticipated, classrooms and schools are over-crowded, and school officials are ”doing what we can” for the short term, and planning for more favorable long-term solutions. Superintendent Steve Cochrane has reported an enrollment of 3700; with just under 1600 at the high school (PHS), 200 more than the school is optimally designed to hold; some eighth grade class sizes pushing 30 at John Witherspoon Middle School (JW), where the overall student population jumped from 720 at the end of last year to 765 at the beginning of this year; and an unexpected surge in kindergarten numbers at Community Park, where a fourth section has been added, and in third grade at Riverside, which has added an additional section. “The concern is the unknown, ” Mr. Cochrane said. Sources of the uncertainty include new developments at Avalon Bay, with demographic projections of 135 students but a low percentage of units rented and only ten students so far; 21 students residing at Copperwood, which was originally proposed as a 55+ community, but later welcomed younger families; and Merwick Stanworth, projected between 25 and 30 students, with the actual number currently 75 and likely to climb closer to 100 as more of the 325 units there are occupied. At the School Board’s September 27 meeting, Board vice president Patrick Sullivan suggested that the district could see more than 200 additional students as these developments fill up. “At this point we are watching our class sizes closely, ” Mr. Cochrane added. Crowding at the high school means larger class sizes in some subjects and less flexibility in student scheduling. Some eighth grade classes at JW are pushing 30. Class sizes at the elementary schools are averaging 17-18, though some are as high as 22-23. “We now have very few unoccupied classrooms across our elementaries, so even if we budget for additional teachers, we will have very few places to Continued on Page 7
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Wednesday, October 12, 2016
No Bomb Found After High School Evacuation Princeton High School was evacuated Tuesday morning after Princeton Police received a call threatening that there was a bomb inside the school. The threat, which came from an unknown male, was called in about 10:15 a.m., and officials immediately emptied out the building and brought in bomb-sniffing K-9 dogs. No device was found. Students could be seen sitting on the bleachers and ambling around the football field behind the building on Walnut Lane while the school was searched. Police were stationed all around the school. Students were able to re-enter the building around 12:20 p.m., according to police reports. Last month, Ewing High School received three bomb threats in three weeks, and students were evacuated each time. Ewing police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with one of the incidents. Princeton schools received several “swatting” calls last year warning of explosive devices. The threats concerned the high school, Riverside Elementary
School, and John Witherspoon Middle School. Special information sessions were held for parents and students to calm nerves regarding the incidents, which were also happening in other parts of the country from Alaska to Connecticut. Princeton’s school district was targeted 10 times. Local police collaborated with the FBI and other federal and state authorities to
try and determine who was making the threats. Some of the threats were found to be pre-recorded, while others appeared to be through Internet connections, on a computer, possibly from the gaming community. No bombs were found at that time, and the calls were considered to be a hoax. —Anne Levin
Four Princeton Residents Are Competing For Three Seats on Public School Board With a range of financial, academic and philosophical issues on the table, and a teacher contract to be negotiated in early 2018, four Princeton residents—Debbie Bronfeld, William Hare, Alex Martin, and Gregory Stankiewicz—are competing for three open seats in Princeton School Board elections on November 8. The four newcomers are seeking to replace outgoing board members Molly Chrein, Tom Hagedorn, and current board president Andrea Spalla, who will be
stepping down when their terms expire at the end of this year. The candidates, who bring a range of backgrounds and experiences to the contest, have all expressed concerns about maintaining and improving the high quality of education in Princeton Public Schools (PPS) in the face of an expanding student population and serious tax and budgetary constraints. At a forum sponsored by the League Continued on Page 30
LAST WEEKS: Morven Museum & Garden’s exhibit, “Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Couple of an Age,” will end its long run through on October 23. The name of Lindbergh’s plane has taken on a certain significance in the wake of Sunday’s contentious presidential debate. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)