PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – Town councilors on Monday voted against a request to allocate $5,000 for a study to explore the educational impact that regionalization would have on island school children.
In a 4-3 vote, taken last night, councilors rejected the request made by the Aquidneck Island Advisory Group, an informal body of local elected and appointed officials concerned with improving the quality of education on the island. The vote distinguishes Portsmouth’s Town Council as the only elected body on Aquidneck Island to oppose the request. Both councils from Newport and Middletown approved the funding request, as did each of the island’s three school committees.
Proposed on behalf of the Aquidneck Island Advisory Group, the study is designed to be a follow-up to an analysis released by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council in July which emphasized the potential cost savings for the island’s three communities under various levels of regionalization.
Members of the advisory group had been hoping to collect $5,000 from each community’s respective councils and school committees to help fund the project, with the difference being made up by the state.
However, Portsmouth council members cited a desire for the School Committee to bear the town’s entire $10,000 portion of the study. It’s not that they opposed regionalization, or the idea of saving money through shared services, opponents said, it’s just that they believed that due to the nature of the request, the School Committee should foot the bill.
Still, that position drew concern from both fellow councilors as well as members of the audience.
Leonard Katzman, himself a former council member, stood up at one point to address the issue. “If you vote no,” he said “[the headline] is going to say ‘Portsmouth voted no to supporting regionalization.’”
And while the topic of regionalization is a controversial one throughout the island’s three communities, it is not one without merit for further exploration, opponents to the funding request such as Councilwoman Karen Gleason said. She simply wanted to save the town $5,000 on another outside study in what is a very troubled economic climate, she said.
The decision throws into the question the next step for those who are at least interested in weighing the pros and cons of some form of regionalization. It also follows last week’s decision by the Middletown Town Council to support the plan, after earlier concerns were put aside in favor of gathering more information on the controversial subject.
Now, group members may have to reconsider their plans.
Voting to oppose the funding request were Councilors Karen Gleasen, Keith Hamilton, Jeffery Plumb, and Huck Little. Councilors Peter McIntyre, James Seveny, and Dennis Canairo.
This post was updated at 4:39 p.m. Check back for further updates as we receive reaction from other local officials.
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Newport, RI
