When I was sworn in as a Middletown Town Councilor in December of 2024, one of my main goals was to do everything I can to make Middletown Public Schools (MPS) the best in the State. We have a new Superintendent, new leaders of our schools, new schools on the way, and I am already seeing huge improvement at MPS.
It only took a few weeks into 2025 for the “regionalization with Newport” topic to surface again. In Middletown, in executive session as a Council, and again with our School Committee, we agreed we should re-start discussions. We sent our leaders back to Newport to get the conversation going, and in return they kept us up to date.
Then the week of May 5th, I received a phone call from Town Council President Paul Rodrigues, asking if I could attend a special meeting between the Newport City Council and the Middletown Town Council on Saturday, May 10th at 9am.
I told President Rodrigues that I could not attend, since the Middletown Youth Soccer Club Boys U16 team that I coach had a big game in Narragansett. However, since as a Council we were on the same page, I was very comfortable with the meeting proceeding without me, and said “let’s get the conversation going, do not hold it up for me.”
Now, I want to be careful not to speak for my colleagues on the Middletown Town Council, but I do believe all seven of us share the same general idea when the topic of regionalization comes up: “We owe it to the taxpayers, and more importantly, the kids of Middletown AND Newport, to continue exploring this effort.”
I was not that surprised when I saw the cancellation, not a great start, but I sort of expected it. It is hard getting two Councils together, especially when you mix in the State’s Open Meetings Act. But to be completely honest, I do not have a lot of faith that this effort will EVER be successful.
I have even spoken to a couple of Newport City Councilors at various events and was disappointed to see so many pre-determined stances, different definitions, wants, and needs. We are not even in the “sandbox” and it seems like we have already “drawn lines in the sand.” I even told my counterparts, respectfully, “it looks like the adults in the room will ruin this once again.”
I have some experience with this, as Co-Chair of Middletown’s School Building Committee, I was directly involved in the failed 2022 attempt, which in my opinion, was our best chance of regionalization. New schools for everyone, combined leadership, combined curriculum, huge construction reimbursements, huge operational savings, better education, better future, for ALL our kids.
I held signs in Newport on that election day, asking people to “Vote for the Kids,” to vote for taxpayers, to take advantage of this amazing opportunity. Only to see it lose narrowly in Newport, mainly due to a strong anti-regionalization effort, who created false narratives about race and economics, while budget overages were held back from voters in Newport.
Middletown has done their fair share to ruin this conversation, like in 2019 as the Town Council rejected continuing discussions with Newport for a consolidated High School. We heard about it a lot in the 2022 effort, in the community meetings, where some of us were held accountable for one comment made by a former Councilor in 2019. President Rodrigues, to his credit, even took the extra step to apologize on behalf of the Town.
What is most disappointing is that I know regionalization is possible with the kids. Want an example? We can start with my soccer team I mentioned above, which is made up of a mix of great young men from Newport and Middletown. I love this team; we are truly coming together this spring with a common goal.
The team is made up of young men from MHS, Rogers, Gaudet, Pennfield, Prout and St. Michael’s. At our team dinner last week at my house, I saw kids from all backgrounds, all walks of life, different economic situations, different family structures, just hanging out, talking about life, sports, soccer, girls, and our goals as a team.
Our kids are never the problem. They know each other through clubs, churches, sports, youth groups, organizations, drama productions, karate lessons, you name it, they know how to work together. Adults are the problem. The adults are the ones that always tense up when that word “regionalization” comes up, not the kids.
Maybe we can learn from our kids, they have experience “playing nice in the sandbox,” while the adults seem to struggle to just get to the “sandbox.” Maybe we should let the kids lead the discussion this time. My expectations may change.
Charlie Roberts
Middletown Town Council
