At the last City Council meeting, the Superintendent, parents, and some of my Newport School Committee colleagues, made their priorities clear—fully fund our schools and stop wasting money on duplicative studies. Hopefully, the second reading of the budget will reflect that by including the full four percent school budget request plus the additional $250,000 that is currently earmarked for the redundant regionalization study.
Spending $250,000 on yet another consultant to “study” school regionalization is a costly distraction. Newport residents should contact the four City Councilors pushing this waste of time and money: https://bit.ly/NCCcontacts. More unnecessary studies will simply join the dusty stack of prior reports already on shelves, unread, not implemented, and paid for by all of us.
The type of regionalization currently being explored — administrative or “first steps” collaboration — is fundamentally different from the full regionalization model that the council’s proposed study aims to assess. These efforts are on separate tracks and will likely conflict with each other. At some point, an updated study of full regionalization might be useful, but this is not the time. The proposed study would be premature and out of sync with the direction currently being pursued to garner a 78% bond reimbursement from the state.
The council’s $250,000 would be far better spent keeping the Pell Elementary School counselor and other vital district teaching positions now sitting on the chopping block.
You can find the many past regionalization studies here: https://bit.ly/RegionalizationStudies.
Enough is enough. We know the facts: our small, shrinking school districts are inefficient and unsustainable. Another study delay is just wasting money and time. It’s time for bold leadership. The studies are done. The case is clear. It’s time to move forward with a sense of urgency.
Beth Cullen
Newport School Committee Member
