Informing South Kingstown Residents since 2018
Part 1 of this series discussed the current budget year with respect to expected enrollment declines. This article, by contrast, focuses on the future (5-10 years) when our recent elementary enrollment declines start to affect our High School programs. To recap, district administration is framing enrollment declines using grade level averages instead of providing a... Continue Reading →
During last night’s joint budget meeting, Superintendent Savastano and others made the claim that the projected drop of 59 students next year will not result in teacher reductions because that is only 4 students per grade level. This is a misleading oversimplification that obscures the challenges caused by enrollment declines. We should be setting a... Continue Reading →
Per pupil spending is one of the most commonly used but misunderstood metrics regarding school financing. As Town Manager Zarnetske stated during his CIP presentation, it’s not really a measure of how much we spend to educate one child and I understand how it can be somewhat insulting to think of placing a monetary value... Continue Reading →
As discussed in your September 13 article by Allie Lewis titled “SK looks at first week of classes, enrollment”, at the most recent School Committee meeting, vice chair Sarah Markey remarked that the current year enrollment decline (down 89 students) nearly matched that predicted by the official district projection of 82 fewer students. It’s unclear... Continue Reading →
As a new school year begins, it is an excellent time to take stock of where we are, where we have been, and where we are going. The past year has featured so much disruption, chaos, transition, and change that it is difficult to remember where we were just one year ago. In no instance... Continue Reading →
Recent discussion about taxes have made me think back to when I learned what taxes are. When I was a kid, my dad explained that taxes are how we express our patriotism. We don’t see it as something taken from us, but rather our buy-in to being part of society. Our taxes pay for services... Continue Reading →
INTRODUCTION From the start, RIDE’s new regulations for the facility process have been confusing and contradictory. Over the past several years, our understanding of which bonus incentives for which we might qualify, how much aid reimbursement we can expect, and how to calculate capacity and utilization has fluctuated wildly and each “answer” from RIDE has... Continue Reading →
Now that nearly every person in town has had a chance to plead for the music program and Mr. Muir’s job, I figured I would add my $.02. I’m not going to plead for anything, but instead express my dismay that the school committee has decided to again weaponize the cut-list charade and play on... Continue Reading →
As visionary mathematician Homer Simpson once said, "You can use statistics to prove anything! 14% of people know that!!" If anyone ever doubted Dr Simpson, this year's SK budget season stands as a stark reminder that reality is in the eye of the beholder and everyone can find a number to defend their argument, and... Continue Reading →
Sometimes it’s about the money and sometimes it’s not. This time it’s both. The school committee’s request for an additional 1.5% property tax transfer (from 1% to 2.5%) may not be extreme, but it sits on top of a much larger tax increase which includes money set aside to pay for school construction projects. That... Continue Reading →
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Jason Ralph
Dr. Joslin B. Leasca, MSN, DNP, FNP, CNL, CNE
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SK Spotlight
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