Volume LXXI, Number 24
Luxury Living Pages 20-21 New High School Club Promotes Activism . . . . 5 PHS Student Suspended Over Yearbook Collage Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A Celebration of Elegance and Style at Michener Art Museum . . . . . . . . . . 13 Princeton Ballet School Offers Students More Choices . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Princeton Festival Presents Man of La Mancha . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra Closes Season . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Kampersal Leaves PU Women’s Hockey for Penn State . . . . . . . . . 24 Men’s Summer Hoops Starts 29th Season . . . 29
PHS Track’s Paul Brennan Excels at Meet of Champions . . . . . . . . 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 19 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 32 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 15 New To Us . . . . . . . . .21A Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 30 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 31 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Service Directory . . . . 34 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Former Governor Tom Kean And Lawyer Bruce Afran Join Fight for Westminster During his tenure as New Jersey governor from 1982 to 1990, Tom Kean made funding of the arts a priority. So it makes sense that Mr. Kean has signed on as honorary chairman of the Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College, an organization of alumni, students, and others intent on keeping the famed choral academy intact at its longtime Princeton location. Mr. Kean spoke at a press conference Friday, June 9 about Rider University’s plans to sell the school it merged with 26 years ago. Rider, which is in Lawrenceville, announced earlier this year that it would sell the Westminster campus as a way to stem a growing gap in [Rider’s] finances. While the University has said its priority was to find an academic institution that would keep Westminster, which is financially stable, in place, there is concern that the school will be sold to a developer who could turn the tree-lined campus into a housing complex, and the school would be broken up. Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, June 14, 2017
State Denies PPS Request on Charter School In a five-page letter delivered Monday, Acting State Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington denied the Princeton Board of Education’s request to stay, pending resolution of an appeal, her February 28 decision approving Princeton Charter School’s (PCS) proposal to expand enrollment and implement a weighted admissions lottery. The School Board appealed the acting commissioner’s decision to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court on March 10, and on March 17 the Board requested a stay to enjoin PCS from implementing the weighted lottery and expansion pending resolution of the appeal. PCS, which already held its weighted admissions lottery in April, on Monday filed with the Princeton Planning Board an application for courtesy review of their plan to add a trailer to accommodate next year’s scheduled increase of 54 children while they work on plans for permanent facilities. “We will work on proposed plans for the additional classrooms and special education facilities over the summer and expect to release them to the public in the fall, “PCS Board President Paul P. Josephson said. KSS Architects of Prince-
ton, selected after a public bid process, will design the additional space. Mr. Josephson went on to comment on the success of the weighted lottery in helping to increase diversity and access for disadvantaged students. “Our percentage of low income students entering is 15 percent of the 96 open seats offered at our lottery, which reflects the Princeton community and is a resounding success,” stated Mr. Josephson. “We attribute this
to the combination of the weighting and the sibling preference. As we anticipated, the sibling preference really amplified the chances for qualifying families because once one child got in all younger siblings also received seats.” The Princeton School Board has also filed a complaint in Superior Court citing violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, and PCS subsequently filed a counterclaim. Continued on Page 4
Durkee to Step Down From One Post, Remains as University VP and Secretary It was announced on Monday that Robert K. Durkee will be stepping down as Princeton University’s vice president for public affairs, a role he has held since 1978, but he will remain in the position of vice president and secretary of the University. In sharing a few reflections on his career so far, Mr. Durkee, who arrived at Princeton as a student in 1965, graduated in 1969, and began working in the University president’s office as assistant to the president in 1972, chose to focus
“on my engagement on behalf of the university with the communities in which it is located.” Mr. Durkee, who as VP for public affairs, is empowered to speak for the University and has done so on many occasions in Princeton, Washington D.C., and elsewhere, noted that “The relationship between the University and the town, or the towns, because our relationships with our other local communities have also been very important to me, has always been one of my highest priorities.” Continued on Page 10
RIPE FOR PICKING: Lots of people took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday and enjoyed the day outdoors at Terhune Orchards in Princeton. Fresh strawberries are now featured, and guests can pick their own daily in the field at the farm. (Photo by Emily Reeves)
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