Parents and leaders in West Windsor and Plainsboro who opposed the plan to incorporate the much-debated Mandarin-English charter school may breathe a sigh of relief. Just past midnight on Friday, March 23, the South Brunswick Zoning Board denied a use variance for a location of the new charter school at 12 Perrine Road.
The South Brunswick board actually voted 4-3 in favor of the application from developer 12 P & Associates, LLC on behalf of PIACS, Princeton International Academy Charter School. However a minimum of five votes are required to approve a use variance.
The outcome virtually kills the chances of PIACS opening in September 2012. In order to open the charter school would be required to obtain a certificate of occupancy for a proposed location by June 30.
That deadline is, however, making a difference locally.
Reaction from the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district came from Assistant Superintendent for Finance Larry Shanok. During his budget presentation at the board’s meeting on Tuesday, March 27, Shanok addressed the district’s stance on the allocation of funds for a charter school (PIACS).
“A question we’ve gotten is, because of the decision in South Brunswick, why don’t we knock the charter school dollars down right now? The statutes that are involved would not allow for that. There’s nothing incumbent upon the charter school to submit its documentation to the state department of education before June 30,” Shanok said.
He added that acting Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf has until July 15 to respond to their filing.
“For WW-P to act at this time it would be a very questionable practice which I’m pleased to say the board is not acting on,” Shanok said.
Phone calls and E-mails to PIACS lead founder/chairperson Dr. Bonnie Liao and spokesman Parker Block and have not been returned since Friday, March 23. At the conclusion of the zoning board hearing Block did make the following statement, reported by the South Brunswick Patch website:
“We have to regroup. There were no additional plans beyond this application. Everything was leading up to this,” Block said.
The state Department of Education granted planning extensions for PIACS as each of the previous two school years, 2010-’11 and 2011-’12, were set to begin and the school had not obtained zoning approvals, which was initially sought for a location in Plainsboro at St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road.
According to the South Brunswick Patch, over 110 people attended the hearing, including a dozen residents of Plainsboro and South Brunswick who spoke during public comments against the charter school opening. The hearing began at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, March 22, and lasted just under five hours.
In an E-mail sent to the WW-P News immediately after the zoning board’s vote, WW-P School Board President Hemant Marathe thanked members of the community who attended the meeting and voiced their opinions against PIACS.
Patch also reported that one main issue raised at the South Brunswick Zoning Board hearings was increased school bus and car traffic on and near Perrine, Schalks Crossing, and Ridge roads that would have occurred with the school opening.
