By: Liam W. Cooney | Staff Writer
One of the more interesting features on the midterm election ballot this year, particularly for Aquidneck Islanders, was the possibility of regionalizing Newport and Middletown school districts. The final vote had Middletown passing the bill with an overwhelming 64.5% of the vote, and Newport narrowly rejecting, only 47.2% of voters approving. Both sides, of course, needed to be in the majority favor of regionalization.
A possibility that has been talked about in local politics for about a decade now, this has gained significant steam in recent years mainly due to the potential financial benefits that could come in building new buildings. Should it have been passed, the town of Middletown would have been given an 80% state reimbursement in assistance of their two proposed new buildings, of which would total $235 million to build. The city of Newport would have been given $46 million for the new Rogers High School, which broke ground this past June.
While support for district unification has been stated by town leaders, including Middletown Town Council President Paul Rodrigues, as well as Newport Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano, many outspoken parents and community members had been fighting against the possibility.
Back in 2019, three Newport women formed the group, “Building Newport’s Future.” This group is composed of three Newport women, Amy Machado, Kendra Muenter and Aida Neary, who is the director of Community Educational Partnerships at Salve Regina. The group was originally established in an effort to get passage for the new Rogers High School, as well as Pell Elementary School buildings renovations. The focus of late has been to stop regionalization, as Machado said, “They’re calling it regionalization without doing the work to actually regionalize.” Many have also claimed this proposal is nothing more than a money grab, looking to cash in on potential state subsidies.
With a failed passing this time around, there is no telling if regionalization of some sort could once again become a possibility between the two districts sometime in the future. There have even been talks of a shared middle school, nonetheless, it seems future possibilities may still remain.
Cover photo from unsplash.com
