Newport Daily News - Editorial - Regional high school worth study

July 22, 2013

After many false starts, we are glad to see the idea of regionalization is not completely dead.

That’s because we believe it is a concept that has merit, but has not been fully explored yet, at least on Aquidneck Island.

The issue bubbled up last week in a most unexpected place — at a press conference officially unveiling plans for an 18-mile bikeway across Aquidneck Island. The elected leaders of all three island communities said the Aquidneck Island Bikeway actually represented much more than a safe place for bicyclists to ride.

“We should use it as a symbol ... of what else can we do to create a ‘single community,’” Newport Mayor Harry Winthrop said.

“It’s a great synergy,” Portsmouth Town Council President James A. Seveney added.

“This could be a symbolic first step towards looking at regionalization,” said Middletown Town Council Christopher T. Semonelli. “Maybe it’s the word that we have a problem with, because there’s certainly plenty of desire.”

The Middletown council took it a step past symbolism later the same day, when it voted to take the lead in exploring the feasibility of a regional high school for the island. By a 6-1 vote, it instructed the town administration to develop a model for a 2,000-student school for Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

Councilman Richard Adams, who proposed the resolution along with Councilwoman Barbara VonVillas, noted that “we’ve all talked about regionalization for a long time.”

But, he added: “It used to be, not so long ago, that you said the word ‘regionalization,’ you’d better get under the desk because there was a great outcry against it. The whole context has changed.”

During its meeting later in the week, the Middletown School Committee informally supported the concept, and Superintendent Rosemarie Kraeger pledged the School Department’s assistance.

Meanwhile, Middletown School Committee Chairwoman Theresa Silveira Spengler noted that she was meeting with her counterparts in the other island communities to discuss shared services.

That sort of thing — joining forces to purchase items or services or negotiate contracts — has been happening for some time now.

However, discussions about creating a regional school district have gone nowhere, despite studies that have shown financial savings and academic promise.

So maybe this is the way to start — with one regional project, rather than creating a whole new system. And maybe it is smart for it to start in Middletown, which in addition to being geographically in the middle of the island, also is the least polarizing community when it comes to this issue. (Readers may recall that several years ago, a Portsmouth School Committee member said that district did not want “Newport’s problems.”) It will be interesting to see how other communities respond. The Newport City Council will be the first to weigh in; it is expected to take up the matter at its meeting Wednesday.

We are encouraged by Middletown’s leadership on this issue and look forward to seeing the proposal when it comes forward.