Second Time Around for International Charter Zoning Application

Emotions ran high at a packed Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing last night on the proposed location of a Chinese immersion charter school on Perrine Road in South Brunswick.

Around 200 people turned up for the 7:30pm meeting at the South Brunswick Municipal Building, overflowing from the meeting room into the main lobby.  Several came from neighboring towns such as Princeton, West Windsor and Plainsboro, all within the catchment area of the proposed new charter school.  PIACS supporters wore blue shirts that prominently displayed the school’s logo in the front, while those opposed had yellow labels saying “Vote No!” and “No more Charter$.”

The Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS), which offers a K-2 bilingual Mandarin immersion program and the International Baccalaureate curriculum, is seeking approval for a land use variance for the building and eleven-acre site at 11/12 Perrine Road.

PIACS’ charter was approved by the New Jersey Department of Education (DoE) in January 2010, and the school has been looking for a location where it can open its doors as planned in September this year.   The school’s opening had previously been delayed by a year due to technicalities with the Plainsboro zoning process that made it impossible for PIACS to meet the DoE’s deadline to obtain a certificate of occupancy.

Last night’s meeting got off to a slow start as people were reluctant to leave the room although the occupancy numbers had exceeded the fire safety limits, with calls to change the meeting venue or give South Brunswick residents priority to remain in the room.

Andre Gruber, the attorney representing PIACS, called for the board to keep an open mind and evaluate the school’s proposal based on the application presented, emphasizing that the school’s charter had already been approved by the state.

“The same arguments used before the Board of Education don’t belong before the Board of Adjustment,” said Gruber.  “It is not a question of whether the charter school is good or not.”

During the hearing, when various PIACS witnesses spoke of the school’s educational benefits and diversity, there were frequent boos from some in the crowd.  Many people present were unhappy at the prospect of increased taxpayers’ burden with the opening of a new charter school.  The atmosphere was often tense and disgruntled, and Marty Hammer, who was chairing the hearing, had to repeatedly call for order to remind people not to speak out of turn.

The attorney for the South Brunswick Zoning Board interjected several times to remind the board and PIACS that their testimonies or questions on the benefits of the charter school were not always pertinent to the land use hearing and would instead leave them open to further debate during the public rounds of the hearing.

“We are not going to sit on judgment of the impact of the charter school.  Keep your testimonies on land use zoning.  Apply the same rules to this application as with others,” he said, urging PIACS to focus on the land use and general needs of the school, and any statistics that would support that need.

The first PIACS witness, Helena May, who has four children enrolled in the Princeton public school system, resigned from the charter school’s Board of Trustees in order to make preparations to purchase the property.  She said that the current owner is running a liquor distribution warehouse, but he would not remain on the premises if the school’s application were approved.

“The site is the ideal space for the school, it is campus-like,” said Bonnie Liao, the lead founder and Board chair of PIACS.  “We have searched up and down, and this is the best.”  She added that 170 students would be enrolled in the first year, with 60 students each in pre-K and 1st grade, and 50 students in 2nd grade.  35 hail from the South Brunswick school district, 35 from the  Princeton Regional Schools district, and 100 from the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district.

Under the current application, PIACS will occupy 13,780 square feet of the building at Perrine Road, with a non-profit private school (at which Liao is also the founder and trustee) occupying 2,515 square feet in the same building.  However, the two schools will operate as distinct entities, with separate entrances and classrooms.

Working together with William Busby, who prepared the site plan for the PIACS’ application, the professional consultants with the zoning board agreed that the proposal had essentially met all the issues identified in the memo, including boundary and topographical surveys.  Busby also said that the allocated parking spaces were sufficient for the whole building, allowing both schools to operate on the same schedule.

The PIACS application will return to the zoning board on June 2.  June 30 is the deadline by which the school must obtain a certificate of occupancy in order to open by September of this year.

About the Author

Audrye Wong

Princeton University, Class of '13