*** This article has been updated based on more recent understanding of staid aid. Note that this was written in January, 2019, before our original stage 2 was submitted, before it was rejected, and before we investigated the feasibility of a new HS the first time last spring. As you know we are now embarking... Continue Reading →

Last week I wrote about the constraints that Massachusetts placed on its school districts nearly 40 years ago.  Under the same constraints, South Kingstown spending (since the year 2000) would have trended very differently. Each year, SKSD is spending $10mm to $12mm more than if normal inflation been applied over the last 20 years.  For... Continue Reading →

Last night, the School Committee was presented with the latest iteration of the facility plan. The building committee met earlier in the day to finish the updated proposal of $86mm. They subsequently removed several of the HVAC options to bring the new price tag down to $75mm. NEA president Brian Nelson advocated to add back... Continue Reading →

In 1980, the State of Massachusetts recognized the limitations and threats of relying too heavily on expanding property taxes to fund our public education systems.  Proposition 2 ½ was passed to limit the increases a town could levy through its property taxes each year. Named for the enacted cap of 2.5%, any town that needed to... Continue Reading →