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Robert J. Leary
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I am in favor of small neighborhood
schools. I do support the building of two new "smaller"
schools and remodeling- which may include a small addition of
the third site at Coggeshall. Thus, the cost of three new elementary
schools will be millions less.
The present central administration-Triplett site - should be
turned over to the city to generate income and tax revenue for
Newport. The central administration should be moved to Rogers
High.
The excessive space at Thompson needs to be discussed for other
options. Possibly the 5th grade moved up. Possibly the professional
development of central administration be moved there. These
are options for the available space at Rogers and Thompson.
These and other options must be on the agenda of the Newport
School Committee.
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| Charles P. Shoemaker, Jr. |
Introductory comments: Although the basic intent of most of
the questions seems to be understood, some of the questions
are confusing. For example in the first question, the last sentence
does not make it clear if we were to respond to excess classrooms
in Thompson Middle School and Rogers High School or excess classroom
in Thompson Middle School, Rogers High School and the elementary
schools.
It is for this reason, I have repeated the questions as written
and ask that they be included in my response, so the reader
understands question as presented.
1. "Fewer and Newer" schools.
A. I support new elementary schools,
but I had voted for only 2, not 3. (The majority of the committee
voted for 3.)
The current elementary schools need to be replaced for several
reasons: 1) their small size makes them inefficient and limits
flexibility to accommodate multiple classes at each level; 2)
the new fire codes would require a huge expenditure, if the
"old" schools were not closed and 3) many of these
schools are "old". Take a walk through the corridors
of Coggeshall or Cranston-Calvert-these are buildings in which
we cannot take great pride. Nearly 95% of those responding to
the school's survey agree with this assessment.
As for moving all the students into Rogers and Thompson and
eliminating the existing elementary schools, this could be done,
but with many compromises. There are many, both within the schools
and outside the schools, who feel that Thompson was designed
as a Middle School and it should be retained as a Middle School.
If one accepts Thompson as "the" Middle School, all
the other proposals to move the elementary kids into Rogers,
or other arrangements have been met with great resistance from
parents and educators. Plans are being considered to fill these
empty spaces with some of the services housed in the Triplet
building.
The school administration and committee are acutely aware in
the drop in enrollment and may wish to revisit the recommendation
of 3 versus 2 schools.
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