I support the concept of regionalization in the traditional sense of uniting two schools into one building. I do not support the proposal for regionalization on the November ballot for Newport and Middletown. We have heard about regional school and joint finance committees, economic benefits, and “potential” offerings for Newport and Middletown.
We have not heard about an education plan with detail on the academic benefits, if it will decrease the dropout rate, and how will it benefit the ratio of students per teacher in each classroom. It also appears that some of the current offerings by both communities, such as the anti-bullying program, has not been included on the proposed “potential” offerings list.
The Middletown and Newport Public School Regionalization Study September 2022 stated that Newport and Middletown must vote by the November election to qualify for the temporary building bonuses before they expire. However, additional information on what is the type of bonus funding, what the expiration date on the funding is, and why it cannot be extended to provide more time for additional academic details was not provided. The Rhode Island Department of Education should provide more information as to why we have such a short amount of time to make this important decision.
The greatest concern that I have is that the biggest stakeholders in this process, the students, were not being consulted on this. Their futures are going to be impacted by this decision and it is irresponsible to move forward with a process that, the way it stands right now, will not benefit the STUDENTS.