Volume LXXI, Number 15
In Today’s Edition SPRING HOME CENTER SPREAD Zoe Project to Benefit Area Congregations . . . 5 Princeton Theological Seminary Studying Ways to Cut Costs . . . . . . . . . 8 Harry Baur Stars in Raymond Bernard’s 1934 Les Miserables . . . . 23 Boheme Opera NJ Presents Lucia di Lammermoor . . . . . . 27 Lifelong Princeton Resident Harry Ververides, Owner of Harry’s Luncheonette, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 PU Men’s Heavyweight Crew Wins Childs Cup 33 Junior Star Ryan Emerging as Weapon for PHS Girls’ Lax . . . . . . 36
Anoushka Shankar Wows at McCarter Theatre Concert . . . . . . . . . . 20 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 29 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 42 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 20 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 30 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 40 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 42 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Town Wants Public Input for Parking Study; Workshop April 19 Princeton has hired a consultant to undertake a parking study, and input from the public is a key component of the project. On Wednesday, April 19, members of the community are invited to attend a workshop and share views about how to solve the downtown area’s ongoing parking issues. The focus includes making parking more available, and deciding how much to charge and in which locations. Residents can take an online survey, attend public events, or send written comments about changes they would like to see implemented. “I encourage everyone in the community to participate in the process and make their concerns and ideas known,” said Mayor Liz Lempert in a press release. “Changes to Princeton’s downtown parking will be most successful with support and input from all those who are impacted.” Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc., a Boston-based transportation planning firm, is in charge of the study. The idea is to find new solutions “with the goal of maintaining the economic diversity, vibrancy, quality of life, and character of the town,” reads the release. The study area outlined on the town’s website runs north to south from Birch Avenue to the bottom of University Place, and west to east from Library Place to Linden Lane, with downtown neighborhoods in between. The main focus is “the availability of parking and the duration of parking,” said Municipal Land Use Engineer Jack West. “There are a number of ways of looking at that. You can do it by rate, by time allowed at each meter. And you have to figure out how to deal not just with customers who come to town, but to employees who work in town and need to park.” The consulting firm intends to analyze the town’s parking demands as they currently exist before coming up with recommendations about parking management, time limits, permits, technology, pricing, and enforcement. Also targeted are future parking needs, parking for commuter rail users, parking impacts on residential neighborhoods near the downtown business district; and bicycling, walking, and wayfinding opportunities. Residents, workers, business owners, Continued on Page 8
TRUE COMMUNITY.
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Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Lottery Helps Charter School Answer Critics
Amidst legal challenges and widespread conflict over expansion plans, the Princeton Charter School (PCS) is moving forward with a record number of applicants for admission and a weighted lottery that is expanding its population of economically-disadvantaged students. According to Head of School Larry Patton, 320 students entered the lottery for 96 available places, a 25 percent rise in the number of Princeton students registering for the lottery. Nine of the available seats were awarded to economicallydisadvantaged students. Last year 260 Princeton students registered for the lottery, and over the past five years there has been an average of 262 per year. An additional 91 out-of-district students applied for admission to PCS this year. “This enthusiastic response is a clear indication of parental demand and support for the outstanding educational opportunities PCS offers to Princeton children,” Mr. Patton said. “We received applicants from all across Princeton, and our new weighted lottery system and extensive outreach efforts worked to improve diversity at PCS.” The PCS plan to add 76 more students
was approved by the New Jersey Acting Commissioner of Education on March 1, but the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) have filed an appeal of the decision, and both PCS and PPS face law suits over alleged violations the open public meeting act [The Sunshine Law]. Criticism of the PCS expansion has focused on both the “devastating” financial impact on the district and the hasty, undemocratic application process, according to PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane, as well as the relative lack of
diversity in the PCS student population. Princeton Town Council also approved a resolution in opposition to the proposed expansion. In its outreach efforts PCS delivered admissions materials and lottery registration forms to local nursery schools and housing developments with new and/or affordable housing units; advertised in local media; held two open houses at PCS; held eight information Continued on Page 10
P.U. Acceptance Rate at Record Low; Local HS Seniors Weigh Options Accepted? Rejected? Wait listed? With college letters now in hand, many high school seniors will be making decisions by May 1. “Ivy Day” was March 30 for many college letters to be sent, and acceptance rates were down from last year at six of eight Ivy League colleges. Princeton University accepted just 6.1 percent of its record 31,056 applicants for next fall’s freshman class, down from 6.46 percent last year. Princeton has offered admission to 1,890 students, 770 in December
through early action, with 1,308 expected to matriculate in the class of 2021. Among the Ivies, only Harvard at 5.2 percent and Columbia at 5.8 percent had lower acceptance rates. Despite the increasing competition for admission to the most selective schools, Princeton High School (PHS) guidance counselor Patti Lieberman noted, “We’re finding the usual number getting into the most competitive schools.” But, she added, “There are more students applying, Continued on Page 14
SPRING IN BLOOM: With this week’s warm weather, now’s the perfect time to enjoy a peaceful moment amidst the blooming Yoshino cherry trees at the Princeton Battle Monument . (Photo by Emily Reeves)
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