District Review Report

Review from April 22 - 25, 2013 of Narragansett Regional School District by MA dept. of elementary & secondary education.

Highlights: As of October 2012, enrollment at TC school was 133 students, Baldwinville school was 205. TC is/was K-1 while Baldwinville is/was K-4.

That would be 338 students for those keeping score. Keep in mind that according to law, a school district can pull out of school choice, that is they can refuse to take in students from outside the district but the district cannot stop students from leaving the district. Since taking in or accepting students from outside the district adds students which increases the student population, thereby putting pressure and allowing for the making of the case we need more teachers, councilors, more space etc., etc. Also while doing that, the district takes money away from other town's budget. Logically, it would not seem to be responsible from a financial point to increase student population if you do not need to. After all, the argument always seems to be smaller class size and a better student / teacher ratio. Keep in mind, the state only pays $5,000.00 per student for school choice so if the NRHS district claims it takes $11,000.00 plus to cover each student, why would you continue to pursue outside of the district students? I got the 5 thousand dollar figure from the DESE website along with other district and newspaper accounts.

The district is/was classified at level 3. A district is classified into the level of its lowest performing school. The Baldwinville elementary school is among the lowest performing 20 percent of elementary schools. I wonder if this is due to building conditions or the quality of instruction and curriculum? Could it be due the age and condition of the building? On page 16 of this review, it is in bold lettering and states the district has a well developed and organized plan to maintain buildings and grounds. The district's capital plan specifically outlines costs & priorities with respect to the short and long term needs of the district. Keep in mind, TC and Baldwinville are buildings owned by the Town and leased to the district with any expenses over $5000.00 being the responsibility of the town. In one instance, a number of repairs were bundles together to equal in excess of 10 grand so as to be the responsibility of the town rather than the district. (in my opinion and view)

Under student performance, the district is not sufficiently narrowing proficiency gaps. The district's English language arts performance is low relative to other districts. The district's mathematical performance is low to other districts. Science & technology/engineering performance is low. NRHS rate of in school suspensions in 2011-2012 was higher than the statewide average while the rate of out of school suspension was significantly lower than the statewide average.

The rate of in school suspensions was 6.6 percent, almost twice the state average of 3.4%. Out of school suspension was 3.0% which is lower than state average of 5.4%.

Listed under strengths of the district was the superintendent is well respected and is establishing a school culture that emphasizes positive lines of communication with all stakeholders.

The entire district review is available online and makes for interesting reading and is some educational reading. It does make me wonder how we got all these things done such as the building of the coliseum in Rome, bridges over a thousand years old, automobiles designed & build, all kinds of machinery and devices created and built along with students who could actually write their name, communicate face to face and settle things without shooting people. We will probably all be better off when / if we build a 30 million dollar plus monument dedicated to education because it is all for the children. Perhaps the 2 hour delay today is to warm up the building??

Jeff Bennett