Three years after Newport voters narrowly rejected a proposal to create a regionalized school district with Middletown, elected officials from both communities will meet Monday to discuss reviving the effort.
The Middletown Town Council and Newport City Council will hold a joint workshop at 5:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel, 240 Aquidneck Ave., to review two Newport resolutions related to school regionalization and the formation of an Academic Integration Advisory Committee.
The meeting comes after Newport City Council passed Resolution No. 2025-146 in August, requesting that voters reconsider a ballot question on administrative regionalization in April 2026.
Under the proposal, Newport and Middletown would share one superintendent and one finance office, while teachers and students would remain in their respective communities. All other personnel would fall under the direction of the superintendent and a newly elected school committee with members from both municipalities.
The arrangement would increase state reimbursement for new school construction from 52.5% to 80.5%, benefiting projects including the new Rogers High School and Pell Elementary School. Additional incentives include two-year bonuses and 50% reimbursement for in-district busing.
In November 2022, Newport voters rejected a similar administrative regionalization proposal by a margin of 52.8% to 47.2%. Middletown voters had approved both regionalization and a $235 million school construction bond, but those measures were contingent on Newport’s approval.
Monday’s agenda also includes a discussion of Resolution No. 2025-43, passed by the Newport City Council in March, which calls for the formation of an Academic Integration Advisory Committee. The committee would include superintendents, educators, parent representatives and other experts from both communities to develop strategies for educational collaboration.
The councils are expected to discuss next steps and a proposed date to reconvene on Jan. 12, 2026.
The meeting is open to the public. Those requiring interpreter services should contact the Middletown Town Clerk’s Office at 847-0009 at least 48 hours before the meeting.