At last month’s PPS Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Superintendent Steve Cochrane cited growth projections of several hundred students for the district over the next five years and emphasized the challenges of managing and finding space for that growth.
“We need to plan for that growth in ways that consider numerous factors, including facility and play area expansion, land use throughout the community, sustainability, potential redistricting, educational vision, and, of course, affordability and diversity,” he said. (...)
Emphasizing that the planning process had no preconceived outcomes, would generate multiple possibilities, and would involve the whole community, Cochrane reviewed three stages to take place between now and June 2020 in collaboration with the planning firm Milone & MacBroom (M&M).
In the initial fact-finding stage, through January, M&M is reviewing enrollment projections, housing growth, the status of district facilities, building capacity, and educational programming.
From the end of January through March, M&M will be developing various scenarios in collaboration with the Board, the community, and district professionals “to generate a vision for our schools, to prioritize needs, and to review preliminary alternatives for achieving our goals,” Cochrane said.
From April to early June, the planners will narrow down the scenarios and provide a range of recommendations.
Cochrane pointed out that there are three elements involved in the critical process of ongoing community engagement and input.
A technical advisory committee, a kind of steering committee comprised of district professionals and community experts, will help the consultants navigate the complexities of the planning process. Their first meeting with M&M will be on Friday, January 10.
With a goal of ensuring that all voices are heard — and that people are informed and engaged — a group of community liaisons will also be formed, representing a variety of stakeholders throughout the community.
The third element of community engagement will be a series of interactive workshops, informational meetings, surveys, and focus groups.
The first public forum will be held on Saturday, January 25, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., in the Princeton High School cafeteria. During that workshop, the M&M consultants will present their findings and impressions so far and engage the attendees to work together to establish goals and priorities.
Read the full article here.
© Town Topics, 2020