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On what basis is the location wrong for a middle school? And, how will it cost us millions in the long run? Let me ask you, since the committee was tasked at looking at secondary level consolidation - because we had already consolidated at the elementary level and there was no room for any more until we addressed the secondary level - how many options do you think were available? I'll tell you:

K-8 which our buildings were never designed for and the costs for which would have been in the double digit millions due to additional classrooms needing to be built and other builkding accommodations that needed to be made to provide K-8. and that still had bearing on high school populations.

Moving grades 7-8 into the high schools. The committe looked at that when it was first formed and rejected it for two reasons. 1) it doesn;'t allow for middle school and 2) mixing those age groups was not beneficial and there were other issues such as how, as a practical and logistical matter, you could accomplish that.

6-7-8 Middle school in Winman, Gorton, and Aldrich. Doable but does nothing to address the continuing population decline in the three high schools. Plius, we now spend th $2 million in fire code improvements for two of the oldes building in the secondary level, plus the other investments needed to modernize them, pluss the funds you still need to invest in the high schools. the addition of all day would limit how many elementary schools you could consolidate. So if we did this, we run virtually the same number of buildings while the population declines, invest millions in them while they hold fewer and fewer kids. That just makes no sense.

So the committee should have spent it's time devising two or three other plans that, on their face, made absolutely no sense fiscally?

The recommendation was for middle school in two years - that should allow teachers enough time to get their certifications. How are residents getting screwed if a system that currently does not offer all day K or middle school devises a plan to implement them?

As far as the budget is concerned, the Vets roof is already budgeted for i.e. they're bonding that which is the normal process for such a capital improvement. Wireless upgrades are provided by a State technology Bond, the funding for which, incidentally, RIDE tied to a communities building utilization. That surplus that Vella Wilkinson bragged the City "gives back" to the Schools? Well, that buy computers and Googls Chromecarts, texts, etc and helps pay interest on the bonded indebtedness, interest by the way, that historically had always been paid for by the city because they''re the actual owners of the school biuildings, not the School Dept (as well as the Admin buikldings too) - until the Pilgrim roof had to be replaced and the Mayor told the schools to pay for it themselves. Why did he do that? Beacuse, in part, of the City's level of bonded indebtedness.

Last thing, ask Ms. Vella-Wilkinson, Mrs. Travis and Mr. Ladoucer where virtually every dime of our property tax increases have gone for the last 6 years. Oh, let me just tell you -to the city side of the ledger, not the schools. And in that time, they've closed elementary schools, reduced overall staff, privatized special ed buses, and more because there was no more money coming from the city. I guess they were doing more with less, huh?

From: All day-K, 6th grade at junior high by ’15?

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