The Enrollment Storm (Part 1 of 2)

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 →

March 3, 2020 0

Joint TC/SC budget work session

So here are my notes from the school committee budget presentation to the town council meeting tonight. Please note - these are just my notes and my observations. Here is the link to the meeting. The school committee has come in with a budget that calls for a 2% tax increase despite as one speaker... Continue Reading →

March 3, 2020 0

Visioning Workshop – February 22, 2020

I went to the facilities informational meeting at the high school this past Saturday. On a guess, I would say there were between 100 to 125 people there. I felt there were a good number of people there that found out about the meeting from a flier given to them from a SK resident. My... Continue Reading →

February 24, 2020 0

Unsustainable Spending Increases

On February 11, the South Kingstown School Committee adopted a budget for the next fiscal year and forwarded it to the Town Council for approval of a requested 2% increase in tax transfer. On February 20, they met with the Council to sell their request. The key rationale was that the increase in spending, despite... Continue Reading →

February 21, 2020 1

What is the Rush?

I attended last night’s work session between the school committee and the town council. On the agenda was the SC’s requested FY 2020-2021 budget, school facilities program and possible town/school operational coordination/collaboration. Being concerned about the potential municipal facilities expenses I expressed my concerns to Town Manager Rob Zarnetske. He said he also has concerns.... Continue Reading →

February 21, 2020 4

Let’s Insist on Responsible Planning

We talk about the facility plan and what’s best for the kids. But let’s take a broader look and include all of our facilities. We shouldn’t just be talking about the schools. We also need to talk about all of the town’s facilities. At one of the recent town meetings the town manager noted that... Continue Reading →

February 18, 2020 1

Rich Schools, Poor Schools…

When faced with difficult circumstances, it is often easiest to do nothing. Ignore the factors that are pressuring a decision and just hope for the best. In deferring a difficult choice about its schools, South Kingstown is dividing along class lines in ways that will not improve if they are ignored. Facing nearly two decades... Continue Reading →

February 10, 2020 1

Fair for all

I find it extremely frustrating to read some posts and comments on Facebook. There are posts trying to explain what the financial impact to SK residents will be if we build a new school. We all should find out as much as we can before we make such a costly decision which will affect all... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2020 0

Per-Pupil Spending In South Kingstown

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 →

January 16, 2020 0

Open Letter: A Hurricane of Spending

Last week I had the pleasure of attending both the joint Town Council/School Committee CIP and the building committee meetings. As expected, the chief topic was the proposed 90 million school bond to move the high school to the current CCMS and adding an addition to BRMS to consolidate 6th-8th grades. As the assistant wrestling... Continue Reading →

January 14, 2020 5