Volume LXXII, Number 36
School Open House Section On Pages 14 - 16 McCarter Live Forum on The Age of Innocence . . 5 Looking for Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights . . . 13 Kennedy Stars as No . 20 PU Women’s Soccer Wins Home Opener . . . . . . 30 Trio of Senior Standouts Leading the Way for PDS Field Hockey . . . . . . . 33
PU Professor Manjul Bhargava to Teach at MoMath in New York . . 9 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .22, 23 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 27 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Classified Ads . . . . . . 38 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 24 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 37 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 17 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 37 School Matters . . . . . . 17 Service Directory . . . . 40 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
“Expanding Capacity,” PPS Begins New Year; Referendum Postponed
It’s back to school today, Wednesday, September 5, for about 3,800 Princeton Public School (PPS) students. PPS is also welcoming 29 new teachers and 26 new support staff members, eight unaffiliated staff, and three administrators — all pursuing the theme of “expanding our capacity.” The theme applies to both the tangible — the $129.6M bond referendum, just postponed from its original November 6 ballot date, which seeks funds for the building of a new 5/6 school and extensive renovations and upgrades throughout the district — and the intangible — the human capacities for learning and growth in the students and the school community. Last night’s anticipated Princeton Board of Education (BOE) vote to place the referendum questions on the November 6 ballot was postponed pending final approval by the State Department of Education. PPS received notice yesterday that the DOE is still in the process of reviewing the district’s plans, along with a backlog of many other projects from other New Jersey districts. The delay means the referendum will not be on the November ballot, and, pending approval from the DOE, the next target date for a vote will be announced according to referendum dates set by the state. Discussion and debate within the Princeton community will undoubtedly continue throughout the fall. “We will take advantage of this additional time to ensure that everyone has accurate information about the district’s needs for space and security, the impact of the proposal on learning and wellness, and the associated costs, both short- and longterm,” said PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane. Emphasizing the importance of both tangible and intangible aspects of the planned expansions, Cochrane wrote last week in a letter to the Princeton community, “Schools are more than physical spaces. They are given life by the people in them. And so I am excited for the other ways we are expanding our capacity — individually and collectively to care, to learn, to lead.” Later Start at PHS
Princeton High School (PHS) students Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Civil Rights Commission Seeks Improvements A Princeton Council subcommittee last week offered its recommendations for upgrading Princeton’s Civil Rights Commission (CRC), an advisory body without investigatory or enforcement authority that has recently been the source of controversy and the target of charges of “dysfunction.” Recommendations of the committee included a more streamlined and clear conflict resolution process, an upgrade of the orientation process for new commission members, and improvement of communications and opportunities for commissioners to get to know each other. A proposal to rename the commission — from “civil rights commission” to “commission on civil rights” — in order to clarify its role was also presented, but after discussion among Council members and the public, that recommendation was apparently tabled. By state law, Princeton’s CRC, which was originally established 50 years ago and re-established two years ago after a 20-year hiatus, has never had the power to investigate or enforce. The CRC’s voluntary, non-binding conflict resolution committee was put on hold in February 2018, pending review and clarification by the subcommittee charged with considering “changes to the establishing ordinance and procedures that will allow the commission to better achieve its
objectives.” The subcommittee includes Council members Lance Liverman, a former member of the CRC; Leticia Fraga, 2017 CRC chair; and Tim Quinn, Council liaison to the CRC. Fraga emphasized the importance of the subcommittee’s efforts, particularly the clarification and streamlining of the conflict resolution process. “I have confidence that when the process is complete, the CRC will soon again be able to provide assistance to individuals who believe their rights may have been violated, through a facilitated conflict resolution process,” she wrote in an email after last week’s meeting. She continued, “As progressive and
welcoming as Princeton is, we cannot overlook that there may be occasional incidents that may cause an individual to have a very different experience. The white nationalist flyers that continue to appear in our community highlight the need for us to continue the work of the CRC, including outreach and education.” Acknowledging the limitations of the CRC, she added, “the CRC’s conflict resolution process may not always be the best process for all aggrieved individuals, but they can at the very least become informed as to what other options exist.” Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert stated that the CRC will meet on September 18,
Keeping Westminster Choir College in the hands of an entity that understands its mission was the focus on an open discussion held by The Westminster Foundation at Nassau Presbyterian Church on August 29. The public forum was the second to be presented by the Foundation in recent months. Rider University, which absorbed the famed choir college in 1991, plans to sell it to a Chinese company for $40 million. Those opposing the sale of the school to
the Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology Corporation say the company is ill equipped, financially and academically, to run the college. At least two lawsuits against Rider, related to the sale, are pending. Various ideas were explored, including a proposal in which the town of Princeton would float a bond issue to purchase the school. Panelists included Rider Associate Professor Jeffrey Halpern, who is chief
Continued on Page 10
Second Forum About Westminster Floats Ideas for School’s Future
Continued on Page 8
MOVE IN DAY: There were plenty of moving trucks and boxes at Princeton University on Saturday morning as students from the Class of 2022 moved into their dormitories on campus . Students share where they are from and what they will be studying in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
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