As we come to the end of 2024, we look back at the top stories in Princeton.
The public and local officials spoke out against the removal of three people during a federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raid in July.
ICE protest
On July 16, about 40 people gathered on Hinds Plaza outside the Princeton Public Library to protest a recent raid carried out by federal ICE agents.
Three people were arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division in the July 10 raid, according to Resistencia en Accion New Jersey. The grass-roots group has offices on Witherspoon Street in Princeton.
Princeton officials, including Mayor Mark Freda and Princeton Councilman Leighton Newlin, said that the municipal government – including the Princeton Police Department – had no involvement in the raid and did not learn of it until later.
Speaking through an interpreter at the rally, Angela Ramos said the news spread that ICE agents were roaming the streets and making arrests. Several ICE vehicles were parked on Witherspoon Street, near the Princeton Public Library.
Community members approached the ICE vehicles, but the agents did not roll down the vehicle windows or respond to questions about who they were and why they were in Princeton, Ramos said.
Fatima Mughal of Princeton Mutual Aid said the group has worked with the immigrant community, which she called the backbone of the larger community, for several years.
The July 10 raid was the worst one in years, Mughal said. Members of the Latino community were afraid to go to work, to go to the store and to pick up their children at camp in reaction to the ICE raid.
Freda sought to dispel impressions that the Princeton Police Department was involved in the raid. It did not participate in the raid and had no role in the raid, he said.
“I want to make sure the message from us is clear,” he said. “We are a welcoming town and we welcome everyone to our community.”
The Princeton Police Department does not, has not and will not assist ICE, Freda said. It has not had any involvement with ICE since 2013 – years before the State Attorney General set out guidelines for municipal police involvement with ICE.
Freda said the immigrant community can trust the Princeton Police Department. The town’s Human Services Department and the Health Department provide services to everyone and will not report anyone to ICE.
He explained at the rally that police Capt. Christopher Tash and Administrator Bernard Hvozdovic Jr. spoke to ICE officials in the Newark office on July 12 and made it clear that municipal officials will monitor ICE’s actions in Princeton.
Westminster Choir College
This fall, the Princeton Council approved a $50 million bond ordinance to pay for the potential acquisition of the former Westminster Choir College campus on Walnut Lane in Princeton.
The bond ordinance was approved unanimously following a public hearing at the Princeton Council’s Oct. 14 meeting. It allocates $42 million for the purchase of the property and $8 million for related expenses.
In September, the Princeton Council approved another ordinance that authorizes the town to acquire the 22-acre campus from Rider University “by negotiation, purchase, condemnation or eminent domain.”
Princeton officials have said that acquiring the property would enable the town to more effectively plan for its long-term future, such as providing much-needed educational and recreational facilities for the community and the public school district.
The Westminster Choir College campus has been mostly vacant, with the exception of the Westminster Conservatory of Music, since Rider University moved the choir college to its Lawrence Township campus in September 2020.
The Westminster Conservatory, which is also part of Rider University, continues to operate on the former Westminster Choir College campus. It has offered music lessons to children and adults since it was founded in 1970.
Rider University acquired the choir college and its campus through a merger in 1992. It decided to sell the campus in 2016 for financial reasons, but a deal to sell it to a commercial, Chinese-government-owned entity fell through.
Superintendent search
The school board hired School Leadership LLC, a Long Island, N.Y., consulting firm, to conduct the search for Princeton Public Schools’ next superintendent of schools.
They awarded a contract to School Leadership LLC for $25,000 at the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education’s Sept. 11 meeting.
The goal is to name a new superintendent of schools to take the helm on July 1, 2025, replacing former Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley. She was granted a paid leave of absence in October 2023 in advance of her Aug. 31, 2024 resignation.
Interim Superintendent of Schools Kathie Foster has been leading the school district since then. Her contract expires June 30, 2025.
School Leadership LLC has led superintendent searches for many high-performing school districts in the New York metropolitan area for more than 20 years, officials said.
Martin Brooks and Rina Beder of School Leadership LLC will lead the search, said school board member Betsy Baglio. She is the chairman of the school board’s Ad Hoc Superintendent Search Committee, which was formed to oversee the logistics of the superintendent search process.
Baglio said there are timing issues involved in hiring a new superintendent.
Candidates do not wait until Jan. 1 to apply for a job that starts July 1, she said in September. The successful applicant would likely have to give 90 days’ notice to the current employer that he or she will be taking another job.
Given the 90-day notice requirement, it means the school board would have to approve a contract for the new superintendent by its March 2025 meeting, she said. The contract also must be approved by the Mercer County executive superintendent of schools.
