The Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS) — the proposed dual-immersion Mandarin-English school that would initially run from grades K through 2 — presented testimony at administrative law offices in Mercerville on October 11, alleging that three school districts (West Windsor-Plainsboro, Princeton, and South Brunswick) used taxpayer funds over the past 20 months to prevent it from opening.
On August 10 PIACS filed a lawsuit against the districts. Judge Lisa James-Beavers has until December 2, 45 days from the October 11 hearing, to submit her written decision to Department of Education Commissioner Chris Cerf for review. If the commissioner does not act within 45 days of receiving Judge Beavers’ decision, her ruling will become final.
In a change from its original proposal, PIACS will no longer incorporate the YingHua International School into its building plan at 12 Perrine Road in South Brunswick. YingHua, a bilingual Chinese-English private school founded by PIACS lead founder Bonnie Liao, has moved for 2011-’12 from its previous location in Lawrenceville to 33 River Road in Kingston.
PIACS’ spokesperson Parker Block said once YingHua’s administrators knew that a new facility would not be available, they had to find an alternative location. He said YingHua agreed to a multi-year lease at the new spot, which will provide the school with more space. Block said YingHua had considered the former location of the Wilberforce School which relocated to Plainsboro this year.
As PIACS maintains its goal of opening the school in September, 2012, the school must still win zoning and planning board approval. A revised application, more straightforward minus YingHua, will go before the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Appeals in December. The previous application was set to be heard November 10.
PIACS also began the online application period for students on October 15. The application and other information is available at www.piacs.org.
