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Last night’s meeting at Gaudet Middle School on the subject of regionalization was a big disappointment.
State Representative Amy Rice chairs the Special House Commission to Study Regionalizing and/or Combining Administrative and Other Functions of the Newport, Portsmouth, and Middletown School Systems. Members of the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee and officials from all 3 communities in addition to other interested parties were invited.
Unfortunately, the meeting focused on Commissioner Deborah Gist’s presentation relative to the proposed funding formula and not on regionalization itself. If anything, the topic of regionalization was lost amid audience concerns about funding under the proposed formula.
As a result of the attempt to equalize support to the cities and towns by assigning specific dollars for each student, the same pot of money (or perhaps a very slightly increased pot of money) will be redistributed across the state, and communities that have seen increases in enrollments will get more funding while communities whose enrollments have decreased will receive less funding.
Under the current plan, Newport will lose $1.66 mil, Portsmouth will lose $2.66 mil, and Middletown will lose $3.12 mil. By the way, none of those specific numbers were shared with the audience last night.
When asked if there would be any adjustment for regional districts, the Commissioner said that there would be adjustments in housing aid. Unfortunately, this statement was not given the attention it deserved.
In other words, there will be no incentive for regionalization because the money follows the student. If there is money to be saved, it will not happen with the help of the state. It will only happen if the local communities make a concerted effort to cut costs beyond the instructional program. However, and this is a BIG however, the state WILL double the housing aid from 30% to 60%. What does this mean? It means that the state will only provide a pot of extra funding IF THERE IS A CONSOLIDATION THAT RESULTS IN NEW CONSTRUCTION.
As I have been saying all along, regionalization will only save money if there is consolidation. We can nickel-and-dime it by looking at common purchasing or we can bite the bullet and close buildings. A mere $5,000 here or there is not going to amount to a hill of beans. However, incurring the same costs for 700 students (in 2010) that we did for 1250 students (in 1990) doesn’t make sense, especially when those costs have escalated with inflation. How long will we cling to the vestiges of the past while our tax dollars are swallowed up in the future?
Our island communities are talking about building new elementary schools when they should be talking about consolidating the high schools. Before we spend huge amounts of money and strap ourselves with debt service, why aren’t we looking for the best bang for the buck?
Please don’t ask me to vote for a new elementary school when the high schools on the island are aging, they are in need of expensive repairs and upgrading and, furthermore, are half empty.
What are we thinking? What are our leaders thinking?
And don’t talk to me about a funding formula that most people already consider a done deal. Talk to me about saving money through consolidation in a manner that makes sense, one that I can believe in. I’m tired of lip service. Give me some rational action.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Save money? Close Buildings!
Unfortunately, regionalization as a process by itself will not save money. Having served as an administrator in 3 regional school districts, I can say from experience that there is really only one way to save the kind of money that makes the concept worthwhile, and that is the closure of buildings.
School administration from a distance isn’t effective. Administrators need to be in the schools, even the Superintendent. I served in that capacity in Rhode Island for 7 years, and I can say from experience that visiting classrooms and observing and giving feedback to teachers is the most efficient and effective way to improve delivery to students and increase achievement.
On the other hand, consolidating students, particularly those in high schools, offers the most promise for several reasons. The first and most important reason is that it would improve the educational program by providing a critical mass. On Aquidneck Island, for example, there are approximately 650 high school students in Newport, 700 in Middletown, and 1,100 (including Little Compton students) in Portsmouth. Each community has its own high school. Think of the number of Advanced Placement courses or foreign languages or career development programs that could be provided in a single large school in the center of the island.
But the strongest reason for regionalization on Aquidneck Island is the ability to excess 3 aging and costly high school buildings, all in need of expensive upgrading and renovations, by uniting all 3 communities in a single campus with all the bells and whistles for 60% reimbursement plus 5% for energy-efficient mechanical systems.
For regionalization to succeed on Aquidneck Island – or anywhere else for that matter – there must be a shared vision and shared ownership. There is no shared vision and shared ownership in shared administration and/or shared purchasing.
A shared vision develops from the prospect of shared ownership. If people are to “give up” something, they will only be willing to do it for something better. All the promises in the world about saving money will fall on deaf ears because the truth is that the people out there do not trust us, and rightly so. Too many times they have been betrayed and disappointed.
Give them a goal they can internalize as their own, something better that they can buy into, and those who are sitting back, waiting to see if anything will actually happen, will come out of the woodwork.
However, as long as we continue to dance in place rather than lead the line dancing, they will sit on the sidelines like wallflowers and wait for the night to be over so they can go home.
School administration from a distance isn’t effective. Administrators need to be in the schools, even the Superintendent. I served in that capacity in Rhode Island for 7 years, and I can say from experience that visiting classrooms and observing and giving feedback to teachers is the most efficient and effective way to improve delivery to students and increase achievement.
On the other hand, consolidating students, particularly those in high schools, offers the most promise for several reasons. The first and most important reason is that it would improve the educational program by providing a critical mass. On Aquidneck Island, for example, there are approximately 650 high school students in Newport, 700 in Middletown, and 1,100 (including Little Compton students) in Portsmouth. Each community has its own high school. Think of the number of Advanced Placement courses or foreign languages or career development programs that could be provided in a single large school in the center of the island.
But the strongest reason for regionalization on Aquidneck Island is the ability to excess 3 aging and costly high school buildings, all in need of expensive upgrading and renovations, by uniting all 3 communities in a single campus with all the bells and whistles for 60% reimbursement plus 5% for energy-efficient mechanical systems.
For regionalization to succeed on Aquidneck Island – or anywhere else for that matter – there must be a shared vision and shared ownership. There is no shared vision and shared ownership in shared administration and/or shared purchasing.
A shared vision develops from the prospect of shared ownership. If people are to “give up” something, they will only be willing to do it for something better. All the promises in the world about saving money will fall on deaf ears because the truth is that the people out there do not trust us, and rightly so. Too many times they have been betrayed and disappointed.
Give them a goal they can internalize as their own, something better that they can buy into, and those who are sitting back, waiting to see if anything will actually happen, will come out of the woodwork.
However, as long as we continue to dance in place rather than lead the line dancing, they will sit on the sidelines like wallflowers and wait for the night to be over so they can go home.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Funding Formula Means Huge Loss of State Aid
Yesterday I attended a meeting of the League of Cities and Towns and, upon reflection, I don’t think I can ever before remember being in the midst of movers and shakers who felt so hopeless and helpless.
The League invited representatives from RIDE to explain the proposed state funding formula for schools to representatives from each of the cities and towns. I attended with the Town Administrator and the Finance Director.
The speaker from RIDE presented a great amount of information, including a number of algebraic formulas that left most of the audience glassy-eyed. They were only interested in the data used to develop the formula and the impact it would have on their individual communities. Both were controversial.
The data used was stale, to say the least. The reference date used for property values was 12/31/06. Since that time, the bottom dropped out of the economy, many districts have had re-evaluations, and property values have changed considerably and even disproportionately.
In addition, references were made to median family income derived from the 2000 Census, which the League stated could be “12 or 13 years old depending on the census date.” One Town Administrator asked why median family income was used when free and reduced lunch data is fresher and less subject to tax anomalies.
The real issue for most was the direct impact on the cities and towns. It is true that the hold harmless provision has, in itself, created inequities that benefitted some municipalities. For example, the Aquidneck Island communities have experienced decreasing enrollments over the years; yet state aid allocations have been held at the same level as when there were many more students in the school districts.
At the same time, towns that experienced enrollment increases did not receive their proportionate share of a limited pot of money. It was always apparent that, if and when a funding formula was enacted, the island communities would be among the “losers,” not among the “winners.”
What is particularly frustrating, however, is the conclusion that well-managed communities will suffer excessive losses because good management creates the perception of a higher tax capacity, i.e., ability to pay. The state is telling us that we should expect to pay more because we can.
The problem now is that the funding formula appears to be a “done deal.” It was developed by RIDE in conjunction with research done at Brown. The legislators have kept their hands off so all they have to do is vote. The truth is that Rhode Island is the only state that does not have a funding formula. Furthermore, because the state is competing for the Race to the Top federal funds, there is impetus to get it done. It’s time has come.
I started this blog because I truly believed that there was an imperative for regionalization on Aquidneck Island. I never believed that money alone would make it happen, and I still don’t think so.
But now there is more reason than ever to give regionalization a second look. There comes a point when hanging onto the past is just living in the past. Our children are the pawns in the adult world’s resistance to change. Regionalization doesn’t have to be a loss. It can actually be a gain for the students in all 3 communities - if we do it right.
The League invited representatives from RIDE to explain the proposed state funding formula for schools to representatives from each of the cities and towns. I attended with the Town Administrator and the Finance Director.
The speaker from RIDE presented a great amount of information, including a number of algebraic formulas that left most of the audience glassy-eyed. They were only interested in the data used to develop the formula and the impact it would have on their individual communities. Both were controversial.
The data used was stale, to say the least. The reference date used for property values was 12/31/06. Since that time, the bottom dropped out of the economy, many districts have had re-evaluations, and property values have changed considerably and even disproportionately.
In addition, references were made to median family income derived from the 2000 Census, which the League stated could be “12 or 13 years old depending on the census date.” One Town Administrator asked why median family income was used when free and reduced lunch data is fresher and less subject to tax anomalies.
The real issue for most was the direct impact on the cities and towns. It is true that the hold harmless provision has, in itself, created inequities that benefitted some municipalities. For example, the Aquidneck Island communities have experienced decreasing enrollments over the years; yet state aid allocations have been held at the same level as when there were many more students in the school districts.
At the same time, towns that experienced enrollment increases did not receive their proportionate share of a limited pot of money. It was always apparent that, if and when a funding formula was enacted, the island communities would be among the “losers,” not among the “winners.”
What is particularly frustrating, however, is the conclusion that well-managed communities will suffer excessive losses because good management creates the perception of a higher tax capacity, i.e., ability to pay. The state is telling us that we should expect to pay more because we can.
The problem now is that the funding formula appears to be a “done deal.” It was developed by RIDE in conjunction with research done at Brown. The legislators have kept their hands off so all they have to do is vote. The truth is that Rhode Island is the only state that does not have a funding formula. Furthermore, because the state is competing for the Race to the Top federal funds, there is impetus to get it done. It’s time has come.
I started this blog because I truly believed that there was an imperative for regionalization on Aquidneck Island. I never believed that money alone would make it happen, and I still don’t think so.
But now there is more reason than ever to give regionalization a second look. There comes a point when hanging onto the past is just living in the past. Our children are the pawns in the adult world’s resistance to change. Regionalization doesn’t have to be a loss. It can actually be a gain for the students in all 3 communities - if we do it right.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Good News and Bad News
Congratulations to the Portsmouth Town Council for finally joining the other island communities in supporting an educational study for the purpose of identifying the potential benefits (and disadvantages as well) of school regionalization on Aquidneck Island.
Studies of this nature are always helpful, but they take time which, unfortunately, we do not have. The RIPEC study already told us that money could be saved by regionalizing, but no one seems to be listening.
As we get further into the budget season, be prepared for some hard decisions that are not likely to make anyone happy – not the taxpayers, not the municipalities, and not the schools.
Try as you might to ignore it, we are in crisis mode. The state has been squeezing the cities and towns until they are almost dry, yet the governor and the legislators tell us to keep tightening our belts and be more efficient – all the while continuing with their own self-indulgence – but that’s a subject for another time.
The fact is that there is no place for the cities and towns to go but to cut services to both the taxpayers and to the schools or to request that the state let us exceed the tax cap.
Cutting municipal services could mean reducing the fire, police, and/or maintenance, and cutting back services to the schools could mean that your children would not get the quality education that you did. On the other hand, exceeding the tax cap would mean that your taxes would be higher.
Neither of the two options is attractive but it is likely that it will be necessary to choose between them. This is not a time when little tweaks can fill the hole dug for us by the state. Only our own substantive action will get us over the next few years.
However, it appears that, until we actually feel the pain, no one will believe how really bad it is. These are not scare tactics. This is reality. It’s time to think creatively, to look for viable solutions, and to take action now.
Studies of this nature are always helpful, but they take time which, unfortunately, we do not have. The RIPEC study already told us that money could be saved by regionalizing, but no one seems to be listening.
As we get further into the budget season, be prepared for some hard decisions that are not likely to make anyone happy – not the taxpayers, not the municipalities, and not the schools.
Try as you might to ignore it, we are in crisis mode. The state has been squeezing the cities and towns until they are almost dry, yet the governor and the legislators tell us to keep tightening our belts and be more efficient – all the while continuing with their own self-indulgence – but that’s a subject for another time.
The fact is that there is no place for the cities and towns to go but to cut services to both the taxpayers and to the schools or to request that the state let us exceed the tax cap.
Cutting municipal services could mean reducing the fire, police, and/or maintenance, and cutting back services to the schools could mean that your children would not get the quality education that you did. On the other hand, exceeding the tax cap would mean that your taxes would be higher.
Neither of the two options is attractive but it is likely that it will be necessary to choose between them. This is not a time when little tweaks can fill the hole dug for us by the state. Only our own substantive action will get us over the next few years.
However, it appears that, until we actually feel the pain, no one will believe how really bad it is. These are not scare tactics. This is reality. It’s time to think creatively, to look for viable solutions, and to take action now.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Regionalization - How To Do It Ourselves
The article in the Newport Daily News last week (“Can Regionalization Be Mandated?”) certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. I don’t know anyone on Aquidneck Island who thinks the state should meddle in local affairs of this magnitude.
At the same time, more and more islanders are beginning to understand that school regionalization is just about the only way that taxpayers can support the towns’ services, provide a decent education for their children, and still keep their shirts.
So the question is: How do we make it happen proactively before the state gets impatient and decides to save us from ourselves? ? We can’t do it by burying our heads in the sand and waiting for it to go away. The cataclysm is upon us. Have you seen the losses our island communities will incur when the school funding formula becomes law – and it most certainly will - if not this proposal, then one just as onerous? Rhode Island is the only state that doesn’t have a funding formula. The answer for us is to recognize reality and rely on the legislation:
1. § 16-3-4 Creation of planning committee … – (a) Any city or town, by majority vote of its appropriating authority, may create a special unpaid committee to be known as a regional school district planning committee…, to consist of three (3) members, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the president of the city or town council and one of whom shall be appointed by the chairperson of the school committee….
2. § 16-3-5 Formation of regional planning board. – Regional school district planning committees from any two (2) or more cities or towns may join together to form a regional school district planning board or boards.
3. § 16-3-6 Studies and reports by planning board. – It shall be the duty of the regional school district planning board to study the advisability of establishing a regional school district, its organization, operation, and control, and of constructing, maintaining, and operating a school or schools and the types of services to be performed by the school or schools to serve the needs of the district; to estimate the construction and its operating costs; to investigate the methods of financing the school or schools, and any other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a regional school district; and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the city or town councils of the several participating cities or towns…
4. § 16-3-7 Recommendations as to establishment of regional district. – The regional district planning board may recommend that there shall be established a regional school district….
5. § 16-3-8 Submission of agreement to board of regents for elementary and secondary education and the cities or towns. – Copies of the agreement drawn by the regional district planning board in accordance with § 16-3-7 shall be submitted to the state board of regents for elementary and secondary education for review and recommendation
6. § 16-3-9 Action by city or town on recommendations. – Each city or town council of the respective cities or towns shall, upon receipt of a recommendation that a regional school district should be formed, and of a proposed agreement submitted in accordance with the provisions of §§ 16-3-4 to 16-3-8, and with the approval required by § 16-3-8, direct the city or town clerk to cause the question of accepting the provisions of this and the following sections and the proposed agreement or agreements to be placed on the official [ballot…for a] referendum….
In other words, the legislation calls for the process to begin locally, at the level of the governing bodies. That means that the individual city and town councils have to take the official step to appoint planning committees, representing both council and school committee members, to explore the feasibility of school regionalization as it would affect their communities. I proposed such a committee for Middletown a couple of months ago, but the proposal was defeated.
Finally, at its February 16th meeting, the Middletown Town Council voted to tentatively explore regionalization as a committee of the whole. This is not quite what the legislation calls for, but it is the first official step taken by a governing body to actually discuss the idea.
The first meeting of the Middletown Town Council Committee of the Whole met on Monday, March 1st and conducted an open discussion of regionalization for the first time. Members were asked to state their opinions regarding school regionalization and they did so, absent the time constraints of the docket and the eye of the camera. I spoke with several observers, and they applauded the openness of the councilors and the willingness to express opinions.
The truth is that nothing will happen until the individual city and town councils begin the conversation, even if only in limited talks. The next step is for Newport and Portsmouth to conduct discussions of their own and for each council to dialogue with their individual school committees. That would initiate the beginning of the legislated process.
The resulting individual community planning committees - Middletown’s, Newport’s, and Portsmouth’s - if they so desired could each decide to explore the concept together. Following the legislation, a regional planning board could then be formed to discuss the possibilities of school regionalization.
All the talk in the world will leave us at the mercy of the state if the local city and town councils refuse to conform to the legislation and officially engage in the discussion. To delay is merely to postpone the inevitable. We are finally engaged in Middletown. What about Newport and Portsmouth?
At the same time, more and more islanders are beginning to understand that school regionalization is just about the only way that taxpayers can support the towns’ services, provide a decent education for their children, and still keep their shirts.
So the question is: How do we make it happen proactively before the state gets impatient and decides to save us from ourselves? ? We can’t do it by burying our heads in the sand and waiting for it to go away. The cataclysm is upon us. Have you seen the losses our island communities will incur when the school funding formula becomes law – and it most certainly will - if not this proposal, then one just as onerous? Rhode Island is the only state that doesn’t have a funding formula. The answer for us is to recognize reality and rely on the legislation:
1. § 16-3-4 Creation of planning committee … – (a) Any city or town, by majority vote of its appropriating authority, may create a special unpaid committee to be known as a regional school district planning committee…, to consist of three (3) members, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the president of the city or town council and one of whom shall be appointed by the chairperson of the school committee….
2. § 16-3-5 Formation of regional planning board. – Regional school district planning committees from any two (2) or more cities or towns may join together to form a regional school district planning board or boards.
3. § 16-3-6 Studies and reports by planning board. – It shall be the duty of the regional school district planning board to study the advisability of establishing a regional school district, its organization, operation, and control, and of constructing, maintaining, and operating a school or schools and the types of services to be performed by the school or schools to serve the needs of the district; to estimate the construction and its operating costs; to investigate the methods of financing the school or schools, and any other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a regional school district; and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the city or town councils of the several participating cities or towns…
4. § 16-3-7 Recommendations as to establishment of regional district. – The regional district planning board may recommend that there shall be established a regional school district….
5. § 16-3-8 Submission of agreement to board of regents for elementary and secondary education and the cities or towns. – Copies of the agreement drawn by the regional district planning board in accordance with § 16-3-7 shall be submitted to the state board of regents for elementary and secondary education for review and recommendation
6. § 16-3-9 Action by city or town on recommendations. – Each city or town council of the respective cities or towns shall, upon receipt of a recommendation that a regional school district should be formed, and of a proposed agreement submitted in accordance with the provisions of §§ 16-3-4 to 16-3-8, and with the approval required by § 16-3-8, direct the city or town clerk to cause the question of accepting the provisions of this and the following sections and the proposed agreement or agreements to be placed on the official [ballot…for a] referendum….
In other words, the legislation calls for the process to begin locally, at the level of the governing bodies. That means that the individual city and town councils have to take the official step to appoint planning committees, representing both council and school committee members, to explore the feasibility of school regionalization as it would affect their communities. I proposed such a committee for Middletown a couple of months ago, but the proposal was defeated.
Finally, at its February 16th meeting, the Middletown Town Council voted to tentatively explore regionalization as a committee of the whole. This is not quite what the legislation calls for, but it is the first official step taken by a governing body to actually discuss the idea.
The first meeting of the Middletown Town Council Committee of the Whole met on Monday, March 1st and conducted an open discussion of regionalization for the first time. Members were asked to state their opinions regarding school regionalization and they did so, absent the time constraints of the docket and the eye of the camera. I spoke with several observers, and they applauded the openness of the councilors and the willingness to express opinions.
The truth is that nothing will happen until the individual city and town councils begin the conversation, even if only in limited talks. The next step is for Newport and Portsmouth to conduct discussions of their own and for each council to dialogue with their individual school committees. That would initiate the beginning of the legislated process.
The resulting individual community planning committees - Middletown’s, Newport’s, and Portsmouth’s - if they so desired could each decide to explore the concept together. Following the legislation, a regional planning board could then be formed to discuss the possibilities of school regionalization.
All the talk in the world will leave us at the mercy of the state if the local city and town councils refuse to conform to the legislation and officially engage in the discussion. To delay is merely to postpone the inevitable. We are finally engaged in Middletown. What about Newport and Portsmouth?
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