How Come Nobody “Gets It”?

Why haven’t the residents of the three Aquidneck Island municipalities figured out that, no matter how many little tweaks we make to our budgets, we are still facing financial disaster?

Most people know that, when their income is down, they have to “tighten their belts” a little and, if necessary, do it again the following year. But when the belt is so tight that you can barely breathe, something else has to be done.

Then it’s time to have a yard sale or put something on EBay or Craig’s List. Property has to go if we are going to keep the wolves away from the door.

So what does a city or town do when there just isn’t enough revenue? First it cuts services,

The problem with cutting services, however, is that it’s the services that bring in outsiders who spend their money here. It’s the police and fire departments that provide safety for visitors or prospective homebuyers. It’s the nicely mowed grass or neatly plowed snow or the regular trash pickups that send a message that a city or town is well managed and a nice place to live. Not to mention the fact that it is good schools that convince industries to expand here and persuade employees to buy houses. So what services would you cut?

Next option. In the spirit of EBay and Craig’s List, what can we sell or where can we save money that we haven’t touched before? You all know my answer. Consolidate the high schools and close those inefficient buildings that were built for another time when the island enrollments peaked and expansion was unavoidable. Perpetuating extravagance is self-defeating.

Now, before the proposed state funding formula for schools hits island communities hard because the enrollments have dropped dramatically, it’s time to divest ourselves of the expensive vestiges of the past and regroup.

Just the way the US Navy is excessing property that it no longer needs in order to promote efficiency, the city and the towns need to divest themselves of structures that give us less value for the buck.

We’ve got to stop hoping for a miracle. It’s not going to happen. The state itself has a $220 mil gap and has cut $2 mil from local aid. We don’t have the votes to block the funding formula that, in its current form, will result in a decrease of funding of $1.6 mil in Newport, $2.8 mil in Portsmouth, and $3.1 mil in Middletown.

If we are to save our schools – and our town budgets - we must do something big that will really make a difference. No nickel-and-dime measures will do now. It’s time for leadership and courage that will at least begin the conversation.

High School Consolidation: Experience from the Trenches

To date, there has not been any widespread discussion of the benefits to be gained from regionalizing Aquidneck Island high schools. Beneath the radar, many people have indicated that they would support high school consolidation but, until there is more public interest, the idea of any form of school regionalization will continue to be an impossible dream or a distant nightmare, depending on your perspective.

It has been suggested that what is needed is a public forum. My experience is that the typical public forum is almost useless. There were a number of forums focused on the RIPEC Feasibility Study with no visible result. The recent meeting of Rep. Rice’s Regionalization Committee inspired no productive dialogue. The promised Educational Study supported by the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee is not likely to stimulate much more discussion if something doesn’t happen to pave the way.

I suggest that what is needed is not another forum, but rather a panel discussion that would allow those who are already doing it to describe their own experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear what the principals of regional high schools have to say?

They wouldn’t talk about the tax burden, and they wouldn’t make promises of educational nirvana. They might just tell the public – and especially the parents of up and coming high school students - specifically what is actually to be gained and lost by high school consolidation. No opinion. Just fact. Exactly what is needed right now.

Imagine the attraction of four to six high school principals, each talking about his or her own regional high school and telling it like it is.

I’m tired of hearing from those who haven’t been in the trenches of regionalization spinning a mile of promises or projecting adult-related anxiety. I want to hear from those who are doing it about their experiences in integrating the students from different communities. Does it work? What are the challenges? Would you do it again if you had it to do over?

All the studies in the world are not going to convince anyone of anything. Give me real people in real circumstances with real students. That’s the way to find out what works and what doesn’t work. Otherwise, don’t waste my time.