District overview
Princeton Public Schools
How Princeton Public Schools is paid for, who decides, and what is being built
Where does the money come from?
Princeton Public Schools runs on about $115 million a year, and roughly four of every five dollars comes from Princeton property taxes. New Jersey's school funding formula measures what a district needs (its "adequacy budget") against what its community could reasonably pay (its "local fair share"). Princeton's local fair share is $176.3 million against an adequacy budget of $77.1 million, so the state sends no equalisation aid at all - only categorical aid for special education, transport and security, which came to $5.85 million in 2026-2027. At the same time state law caps the tax levy increase at 2 percent a year, with a few narrow exceptions. That combination is the single thing to understand about Princeton's finances: costs rise faster than the cap, and there is almost no state money to absorb the difference.
Tax levy: $94.4 million of a $115.3 million budget
The 2026-2027 levy of $94,443,699 is 81 percent of the operating budget, up from $90,524,554. It sits above the plain 2 percent cap because the state allows extra room for health insurance increases, plus $13,600 of unused "banked" capacity from earlier years.
State aid: $8.2 million, and no equalisation aid
Because Princeton's measured local wealth is more than twice its adequacy budget, it receives no equalisation aid. What it gets is categorical aid - $4.15 million special education, $1.06 million transportation, $646,000 security - plus $2.3 million of extraordinary aid.
Charter school payments: $8.4 million out the door
The district transfers $8,427,045 to charter schools in 2026-2027, up $425,043 from the prior year, of which Princeton Charter School accounts for a $320,974 increase. That is money raised locally that the district does not spend on its own six schools.
Tuition from Cranbury: about $4.9 million in
Cranbury Township sends its high school students to Princeton High School under a sending/receiving agreement dating from 2018. The 2026-2027 tuition contract is $4,854,409.55, paid in ten monthly instalments, and Cranbury holds one seat on the board that may vote on matters affecting its students.
None of this means Princeton is short of resources. It spends $26,112 per pupil, well above most New Jersey districts, and its buildings are in the middle of an $89 million upgrade. The pressure is on the margin: the administration's own March 2026 presentation said plainly that spending will keep outrunning revenue unless the district cuts costs or finds new money.
Where the district stands
Up from $111,384,212 in 2025-2026.
81 percent of the operating budget.
Categorical and extraordinary aid only; Princeton receives no equalisation aid.
Current operating expense per pupil, excluding tuition paid out, transport and judgments. Up from $25,545 revised for 2025-2026.
4,087 in October 2024; 4,147 estimated for October 2026. A further 312.5 students are received from Cranbury.
Up $425,043 from 2025-2026, of which Princeton Charter School is $320,974.
Includes $89,120,000 issued in April 2025 and repaid through January 2052.
Budgeted at $15,502,000 in 2025-2026, a 15.2 percent increase for Princeton against a 31.9 percent rise in the state plan's premiums.
Every regular and special meeting from December 2025 to September 2026 for which the district published an agenda or minutes.
Major projects
$89.1 million additions and renovations at four schools
Under construction, targeted for completion June 2027Voters approved $89.1 million in January 2025 for additions and renovations at Community Park School, Princeton Middle School, Princeton High School and Littlebrook School, plus a high school HVAC overhaul, largely to make room for rising enrollment. The middle school and Community Park went out to bid first.
- Voters approve the $89,100,000 referendum
- District issues $89,120,000 of bonds at 4.00-4.125 percent interest
- Long-term planning committee reports state approvals in hand and bidding under way, middle school and Community Park first
- Award of the Princeton Middle School additions and renovations contract (project 5516B) pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote
- Princeton High School contract (project 5516E) awarded to Amco Enterprises
- $118,215.91 change order takes the middle school contract with Benjamin R. Harvey Co. to $23,213,215.91
Funding
2025 bond referendum; $89,120,000 of bonds issued April 8, 2025 and repaid from the school tax levy through January 2052
Finishing the 2022 and 2023 referendum projects
Behind the original schedule; both now targeted for June 2026Two earlier referendums paid for roofing, siding, HVAC replacement, security and technology upgrades and repairs to Princeton High School core spaces including the cafeteria and stadium field. Both ran past their original completion dates.
- Voters approve $17,251,000
- Voters approve $12,998,000
- Audit reports the 2022 work 80.85 percent complete against an original June 2024 target, and the 2023 work 66.82 percent complete against an original June 2025 target
- Operations committee reviews final actions to close out the summer's referendum projects
Funding
January 2022 referendum ($17,251,000) and November 2023 referendum ($12,998,000)
Rooftop solar power purchase agreement
Conditionally awarded, not yet a final contractAbout 1.4 megawatts of rooftop solar across several school buildings, with the district buying the power at 4.9 cents per kilowatt-hour and a 2.2 percent yearly increase. Two conditions are unresolved: the developer's surety has so far agreed to bond only supply and installation, and the developer offered a ten-year inverter warranty where the district asked for fifteen.
- Board approves a request for proposals for a solar power purchase agreement
- HESP Solar, LLC submits its proposal
- Board conditionally awards project 5698 to HESP Solar, LLC
Funding
No district capital. The developer finances, owns and maintains the panels; the district only buys the electricity.
New rules on phones and on paying to join activities
Both adopted and in force for 2026-2027Two changes families feel directly took effect for the 2026-2027 school year: a bell-to-bell ban on personal internet-enabled devices under Policy 5516, and a yearly activity participation fee of $100 in middle school and $150 in high school under Policy 2436.
- Policy committee discusses technology and cell phone use in schools
- First reading of the activity participation fee policy and rewritten acceptable-use-of-technology policies
- Activity fee policy adopted and 2026-2027 fees set at $100 and $150; first reading of the device policy
- Policy 5516 adopted on second reading; the old privately-owned-technology policy repealed
- Policy 5516 revised again, per the district policy manual
Funding
Activity fees are expected to offset coach and advisor pay, equipment, officials, facility use and insurance; the phone rule carries no stated cost.
Recent news
Built from documents collected automatically each week from the district's own agenda and minutes pages at princetonk12.org, its budget page, and its published policy manual on straussesmay.com. Every figure on this page comes from a document stored from those sources.
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