PIACS Will Not Open This Year, Requests One-Year Planning Extension

The leaders of the Princeton International Academy Charter School have requested a one-year planning extension from the New Jersey Department of Education.

This is the school’s second planning extension request in two years.

Rajan Rankumar signed the letter to Acting Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf on behalf of PIACS Board Chair Bonnie Liao.

The letter, dated June 30, says the school will be unable to meet the state’s June 30 deadline to complete its documentation.

School officials are not only working towards getting a certificate of occupancy for a site at 12 Perrine Road in South Brunswick, but also updating curriculum, hiring staff, completing background checks and updating budgets and enrollment documentation.

There has been progress, including two appearances before the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustment.

"Despite our progress, however, we will not be able to complete our preparation by the deadline required for the school to be open in September 2011,” the letter reads. “Therefore, we respectfully request an extension/planning year in order to complete our preparations.”

PIACS’ Spokesperson Parker Block was not immediately available for comment.

, although it does not go into detail.

“We have been holding information sessions for interested parents continuously and are seeing that interest in the school is growing,” the letter reads. “Therefore, we expect that an extension will have no negative impact on enrollment.”

, hand-delivered a “Say No to Proposed Mandarin Charter School (PIACS)” petition Tuesday to the state Department of Education.

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 of Princeton, South Brunswick, Plainsboro and West Windsor requesting that the state deny any requested extension from PIACS.

PIACS was approved in 2010 by the state Department of Education. Problems with the school’s zoning application meant the school couldn’t open as planned at St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road in Plainsboro.

The state granted the school a one-year planning extension.

Residents opposed to PIACS say the school has already diverted, and will continue to divert, taxpayer money from high-performing school districts and is just a way to publicly fund a private school; opponents note that PIACS would be housed with the private YingHua International School and the two schools would share common areas.

Despite the claims that PIACS would be a boutique charter school serving a handful of students, school officials deny the accusation in the letter to Cerf.

“It will be an innovative, high quality charter school from which traditional public schools can assess whether the programs which better develop 21st century skills can and should be replicated on a larger school,” the letter says. 

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.