PIACS Focusing on Opening in South Brunswick in 2012

After requesting a one-year planning extension from the New Jersey Department of Education, the Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS) is now focusing on gaining zoning board approval for the school's proposed location at 12 Perrine Road in South Brunswick.

After determining the school would be unable to obtain site plan approval for the Perrine Road location by the June 30 DOE deadline to submit a certificate of occupancy, PIACS unsuccessfully attempted to find a temporary location in Princeton and the West-Windsor-Plainsboro area. The school will now be unable to open this year and is focusing its efforts on a Sept. 2012 opening.

"We submitted an application for a planning extension because the Perrine Road location was taking longer to get settled than we anticipated, and our plan B options required too much work to get done with too little time to open in September," said PIACS co-founder Parker Block. "We will now continue to focus our efforts on the Perrine location for a September, 2012 opening. We're hoping to find out by the end of the month whether or not the DOE will grant us an extension."

PIACS has an application before the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustments to open at the 41,000-square-foot site that is currently a liquor distribution warehouse.

Developer 12 P & Associates, LLC, which is owned by former PIACS Board of Trustee Helena May, has a zoning board hearing set for an undetermined date in September.

If PIACS is not granted a planning year extension it will need to reapply to the DOE for a new charter, basically meaning the school will be back at square one, Block said.

"The primary difference between a new application and an extension is that if you submit a new application, the DOE looks at it like there's no relationship to the previous application," he said. "That gives us the option to make some changes, such as if we want to add grade levels, add languages or change our curriculum. A planning year limits us to working within the confines of the same application." 

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"The main issue we're facing is that the zoning process is taking a lot longer and it's a lot more contentious than it normally would be if this were not a charter school," Block said. "All of the political pressure exerted on the township and the zoning board means it's taking longer, with outside consultants from the school districts taking extra time to go through the application. It caused us to have to make numerous revisions to the site plan, even before the first hearing.

"The proceedings themselves are getting dragged out because of the attorney representing the district and residents asking a lot of questions. This is taking a lot longer than it would take if it was another application, and because of the political pressure, it's taking more time."

The school is also facing obstacles in the form of charter school reform bills in the state legislature. Bill A-3852/S-2243 would require voter or board of education approval before charters could open in any school district, and bill A-3356 would require charter schools to have greater financial and educational transparency, and accountability. 

The bills have gained some support by representatives in both parties, including state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-15) and state Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-16),

Throughout the prior hearings before the zoning board, the applicant's professionals have had difficulty providing clarity to the delineation of which part of the facility is to be used by PIACS and which part of the the facility is to be used by a private school also proposed for 12 Perrine Road. Several times during the hearings in both April and June, zoning board members pointed out that the site plan was unclear. PIACS’ application calls for the school to share the location with the YingHua International School, a private school founded by PIACS lead founder Dr. Bonnie Liao.

Residents have also spoken at the hearings with concerns about the relationship between the two schools and the possibility for the co-mingling of public and private dollars in the use of school facilities. 

Following concerns raised during the zoning hearing in April, on June 3 PIACS came back before the board with a site plan that sought to address some of the issues that were raised, as to adequately delineating which parts of the facility would be used by the charter school and the private school.

Zoning board member Frank Antisell said the site plan was not submitted within a zoning board deadline to allow sufficient time for a review of the alterations.  

"There's changes to this plan that are significant, but still haven't addressed a number of questions," Antisell said during the hearing.

Antisell also questioned why it took PIACS so long to provide the site plan given the time frame between the two most recent hearings in April and June.

"There were a number of discussions that went back and forth and questions we needed to have answered before our professionals could revise the site plan," Block said.  "We just didn't have enough time."

the clarity and speed in which answers were provided during testimony by applicant witnesses.

Among the issues that still need to be addressed by PIACS are sidewalks along the property, in addition to the widening of Perrine Road to address the traffic impact.  The traffic engineer for PIACS was unable to make it to the June 3 hearing, so the traffic impact testimony is expected to be heard at the September hearing.

PIACS was approved in 2010 by the state DOE, but problems with the school’s zoning application caused PIACS to be unable to open as planned at St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road in Plainsboro. The DOE then granted the school a one-year planning extension. This is now the school’s second planning extension request in two years. 

Block said the real shame of PIACS not opening is the lost opportunity for the students who will now be unable to attend the school.

"It's irreversible, that's the bottom line," he said. "Unless we decide to submit a new application and add a grade level, which we have the option of doing regardless of what the DOE does with the extension application. We'll have to discuss this with our parents over the next month and make that decision in the next couple of months. If we don't, there will be 50 students who wouldn't be able to attend this school ever."

PIACS was projected to open with about 170 students from the South Brunswick, Princeton and West-Windsor Plainsboro school districts. South Brunswick was expected to lose about $1.6 million in state aid due to approximately 150 students from the district who the state projected to attend both PIACS and the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School in Trenton.

South Brunswick was projected to lose about $800,000 for approximately 75 students to PIACS, but Block said that projected number was incorrect earlier this year.

"The district said they were informed by the Department of Education that they should plan to have about 70 to 80 students attend PIACS for between $700,000 to $800,000, but the actual number will be about 35 students from South Brunswick for about $300,000 to $400,000," Block said in April. 

The money that was taken away for students attending PIACS will be returned to the district, however that money may be needed to account for students from South Brunswick attending charter schools next year, according to Business Administrator Anthony Tonzini.

"As far as I know that money will remain with us, but whether we will need to put that money aside for charter schools I don't know yet," he said. "We built in our budget about $1.5 million for students attending PIACS and the Thomas Edison charter school, so with (PIACS) not opening that money is in limbo. We have to budget for it again next year."

There has also been movement by the three districts to compel the DOE to revoke the PIACS charter. 

 hand-delivered a “Say No to Proposed Mandarin Charter School (PIACS)” petition to the DOE.

Lisa Grieco-Rodgers, of Monmouth Junction, and Liz Lempert, of Princeton Township, delivered a petition containing the signatures of more than 1,200 residents from the sending districts requesting that the state deny any requested extension from PIACS.

"I would expect Commissioner Cerf will see our application is as strong as any they have," Block said. "I don't think they will have any grounds for revoking our charter. I understand the three districts will lobby and exert whatever pressure they can, that doesn't surprise me." 

Block said the main objection from the three districts remains the loss of control over public tax dollars.

"When you're looking at (PIACS), who at its largest would have an operating budget of one percent of the total operating budget of the three districts, it's a drop in the bucket," he said. "In comparison with double digit administration salary increases and teacher salary increases, it's a drop in the bucket. It's clear that the positives of this school outweigh the negatives."

Despite the success of South Brunswick's schools, which includes the recent designation of South Brunswick High School as one of Newsweek Magazine's Best High Schools in America, Block said domestic comparisons are short-sighted and fail to recognize America's schools are falling behind within a global context. He said the strength of the PIACS program will be the determining factor when being judged by the DOE.

"I don't think the districts can provide any new information why we shouldn't be granted a charter," he said. "They had that opportunity in 2009 when we were approved. They still have no intention of providing dual language immersion or Singapore math, which will allow us to close the global achievement gap. It's clear they're resting on their laurels and pointing at the fact that they're not Trenton and Camden, which is what they've been doing for years."

Block said PIACS expects to hear whether or not the DOE planning year extension is granted again by the end of July. If the extension is not granted, PIACS will begin the process of reapplying for a new charter.

The PIACS Debate

Click here to learn more about the various aspects of the PIACS program and how it compares to the education offered by the South Brunswick School District.

Click here to learn more about the issues surrounding PIACS and a private school that has been proposed to share the 12 Perrine Road location with PIACS.  The private school, YingHua International School, was founded by PIACS lead founder Dr. Bonnie Liao.



Click here to learn more about the debate surrounding the public's right to vote on the approval of any new charter schools in their community.