Middletown to Organize Newport County Regionalization Talks

So far, the subject of regionalizing schools has divided the Middletown Town Council. But if there’s one aspect on which members have found agreement, it’s that the Newport County communities need to sit down and talk about it—from one governing body to another.

At the urging of Councilor Barbara VonVillas, Middletown’s councilors on Monday night voted to authorize President Art Weber to invite all of the Newport County councils to meet together to discuss the issue head on. The vote was 4-0, with councilors Richard Cambra, Ed Silveira and Bruce Long absent from the meeting.

“Now is the time to find out if there is interest and the level to find that out is at the governing bodies,” Councilor Barbara VonVillas, a proponent of regionalization, said at Monday's council meeting.

whose opposition to regionalizing schools mainly stems from his concerns over loss of local control to a regional school board, also voted to support discussions with the neighboring communities.

“We need to get all the governments of Newport County to get together to all weigh the pros and cons together,” said Viveiros, who also questioned whether the cost benefits would be significant enough for the communities in future years.

Regionalization discussions have escalated in recent months as the Aquidneck Island communities foresee challenges in education spending in current and future years as a result of continued cuts in federal and state education aid.

In Middletown’s case, the structural deficit is foreseen to spike to about $9.5 million by 2016, Councillor Christopher Semonelli noted at Monday's meeting, as he voiced support for pursuing regionalization discussions.

Both VonVillas and Semonelli also reiterated their previous arguments that regionalization should be pursued for more than cost savings and that there must be foreseen educational benefits as well, such as expanded technology programs and more advanced placement classes.

Two weeks ago, an comprised of superintendents from Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth presented their findings for six different regionalization scenarios as well as their own professional opinions on the pros and cons at a public forum with consultants from two previous studies.

From that meeting, a common sentiment was clear: the island’s top education administrators were seeking clear direction from the region’s cities and towns and a public consensus on whether efforts should be pursued further.

VonVillas has made a similar point in recent months that a demonstration of political will from the various communities was needed to either pursue or end discussions on the matter. She has also recommended that a referendum ballot question be put before voters to assess public support.

VonVillas on Monday night pointed out that while an ad hoc committee comprised of school officials from Aquidneck Island has continued to meet to examine the results of recent feasibility studies, it was time to escalate discussions to take place among policy makers from the communities and to also include Tiverton and Little Compton.

In an official memorandum to the Town Council dated May 10, VonVillas again called for structured talks to take place among Newport County’s governing bodies.

“For more than a year I have been trying to re-direct the exploration of regionalization to the funding authorities, where it belongs," VonVillas wrote. "Regionalization of any ilk is directly related to authority and funding. Yet discussions have been stalemated at a committee (no matter how well-intentioned) which has no official capacity or authority other than to conduct fruitless talks and to spend grant funding on studies that have had no noticeable effect.”

VonVillas also noted that the to reach out to other Newport County communities to further explore the regionalization concept and to authorize President Art Weber to initiate discussions with the various councils.

In 2010, Middletown had its own separate advisory committee meet for about six months to make a recommendation about whether regionalizing schools with neighboring communities would have potential benefits for Middletown. That committee, led by VonVillas, came back with at the high school level and to engage the other communities in further discussions.

VonVillas' memo received by the council Monday night concluded, “Following such discussion, if there is sufficient interest, the governing authorities can begin to review the studies that will contribute information leading to an informed decision relative to further actions. Any other process is destined to fail.”

Meanwhile, prompted by concerns about local control issues related to regionalized school districts raised by Viveiros and shared by VonVillas, the Middletown Council also continues to advocate for .

VonVillas' complete memorandum can be viewed in the image gallery at upper right.