hard deadlines

The empty seats said it all. An audience of barely 15 showed up at the Portsmouth Middle School auditorium for this evening's public comment session on the Berkshire Advisors performance audit of the schools.

It seemed that most people who read the report or heard about the results in the local media — or here — didn't feel the need to speak out. The Berkshire report found the schools were generally doing a good job, suggested a few tweaks to procedure, and recommended additional resources. No smoking gun. No millions in waste.

"It's unusual for us to say thre aren't areas of fat or waste or extra spending," said Berkshire consultant Maureen Costello-Shea, describing the things notably absent in the report. "Where we did not comment, we reviewed the information and found no issue or concern. We would have had a 500-page report if we mentioned everything we didn't find a problem with."

Which probably also explains the empty seats. Of the folks who did attend, the most discussion was around the recommendation to cut a school nurse at the elementary level. "What's going to happen to these little kids when there's no one to patch them up?" asked one parent of a kindergarten student. Costello-Shea pointed out that in many other districts, schools share nurses, and that Portsmouth was providing what appeared to be excess capacity, while there were gaps in providing core services in other areas.

But Council President Dennis Canario assured the audience that the Berkshire report offered recommendations that were still subject to review. "We rely on the School Committee and Superintendent to implement what they can," said Canario. "As far as the school nurses are concerned, I personally, if they recommend we do not eliminate that position, I would trust their judgement. Know the nurse situation is a big concern to parents."

Of the questioners, only Cheshire Kathy Melvin (who has a ranting attack piece in the current PCC newsletter) took the opportunity to harangue the audience at home.

"Another thing I'm concerned about is co-teaching," said Melvin, asserting that it was an "experimental" program "not accompanied by any research or facts" and arguing that "students can't afford another 3 years of this experiment." She lamented that "The audit wasn't all I hoped it would be." You can expect to hear this as the major PCC talking point, since the results weren't what they hoped for. I didn't realize that Melvin had a doctorate in education and was so thoroughly familiar with the literature on pedagogy. Oh, wait. She wasn't.

"Co-teaching is not an experiment," said Costello-Shea. "It has been in place for the past 20 years, as have inclusion models. Especially with No Child Left Behind, districts with self-contained special education classrooms have been required to do just what Portsmouth has done in the past two years. Research has been performed over years. Research all shows that regular education students progress at higher rates because of being in co-taught classrooms." She added, by way of explanation, "We didn't talk about that because it's well known."

Superintendent Dr. Susan Lusi also rose to respond to Melvin's assertions. Seconding Costello-Shea, she noted, "It is new to us, but it is not experimental.

And then Lusi got to the nut of the issue. "In my time here, by my estimation, this community has spent $332,993 turning this system inside out looking at the data. That's the cost of the Tent meeting, the Caruolo proceedings, and this performance audit." Lusi then stated the obvious. "When we brought our budget to the Town Council, I told them that if I took all of Berkshire's recommendations, we would need another $221K. That's less than we spent over the last two years looking at the system."

So what has the PCC really accomplished? Sure, transparency is good. Sure, having a second opinion (and a third, and a fourth?) can be valuable. But we had two independent auditors, a Superior Court judge, and now a performance audit, and they all come to the same conclusion: the schools are generally well run and there is no waste or mismanagement of funds. How many times do we have to pay people to tell us the same thing before we're allowed to just spend the money on educating our kids?

There was, of course, a question about Elmhurst, and Dr. Lusi quoted from the engineering report which said "We are fine using the building. There is no evidence of structural distress." she said, adding that they did recommend keeping the area with the wall cracks locked. President Canario added, "There you have it, right from the source, school is not falling down."

And then Tailgunner Gleason got up to the mike to both claim that she was the person who proposed the audit, and, bizarrely, become the only member of the Council to attack the results. She said they made a "great error regarding nursing situation," and went on to criticize the thoroughness of the Berkshire's analysis. "What I see missing is numbers, fiscal information," she said. "I guess I was just looking for something different. Strictly from the Council point of view, I'm thinking fiscal analysis." Costello-Shea replied that they were logically focusing on performance and resources, but that they had reviewed all the financials, and as with other areas, if they found no problem or recommendation for improvement, there was no comment.

Councilor Len Katzman offered a minor correction. "Councilor Gleason said she proposed the audit, but in fact, Dennis Canario first proposed it when he was a Councilor in 2006, and he deserves some credit." (Canario got a round of applause.)

So Canario appropriately provided the wrap-up. Referring to the differing perspectives about education spending in town he said, "People will disagree on the color of the sky." In his experience, he said, "When you have two different sides, you bring in an outside person to mediate." He indicated that the report served this function, and now that the results were in, we could finally say "You know what? We're doing a good job. Portsmouth is a high-performing town."

A note sent from Portsmouth School Department Superintendent Susan Lusi reports reassuring results from the engineering report on the Elmhurst school:

Dear Members of the Portsmouth School Community:

Yesterday, we received the report on Elmhurst School from the structural engineer at Odeh Engineers, Inc. According to that report, we are fine to continue using the building as we always have, and there is no cause for concern regarding the structure.

The ProJo also has the story.

Portsmouth Library Board president Michael Mello presents funding request to the Town Council.

The exchange between Michael Mello of the Portsmouth Library and Town Council President Dennis Canario was typical of the groups that came before the Council last night, pleading their case for money in the 2008-09 budget, and most returning empty-handed, at least in this preliminary pass.

"We think the Council has lost sight of the fact that we do provide a service to all the citizens," said Mello. "We are the only library in Rhode Island that has not had an increase in aid in 3 years. We will lose $5K from state aid. We are now running 6 fundraisers with most funds going to operational costs. If you do not provide an increase in funding, we must resort to using our endowment. We appreciate the town is in financial difficulties, but we need support for our operational budget."

Council President Denis Canario was sympathetic but firm. "I can appreciate everything that was said," Canario noted, but went on to reject the assertion that the town had lost sight of the Library's needs, "I personally take exception to that. I was one of the biggest supporters of buying the land for the [new parking area next to the] library. This Council has serious challenges facing this town."

The bottom line: the Council, while they appreciate the plight of the library, denied the request for increased aid and could offer no more than flat funding, year-on-year, at $439,930, the largest chunk of civic support.

As Councilor Jim Seveney noted, "We're in a zero-sum game here. We're at the cap. I'm sorry to say that $13K is considered serious money, but in this environment, it is."

The rest of the civic support groups in the "A" list — those that provide essential, nonduplicated services specific to Portsmouth — were lucky to see flat funding. Portsmouth Action for Youth (which runs the after-school program at Hathaway and summer activities), an unquestionably valuable service to parents, got their $54K, but no increase, which, given rising costs that everyone is familiar with, is essentially a cut. "Some of the programs we wouldn't be able to run this year," said director Cybil Pacheco.

Same deal for the Portsmouth Arts Guild, the Portsmouth Historical Society, the Senior Citizens Center, and the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition. Flat funding. And these were the lucky ones.

All the "B" groups — organizations that had had other funding sources or that provided services that were not essential — were zeroed out on this first pass through the budget.

Councilor Jim Seveney moved to give $500 to the first group up, American Legion Post #18, in line with the token funding given to B groups last year, but Tailgunner Gleason wouldn't go along, saying she favored zeroing all the requests. "It's a very unfortunate situation but it's reality we can't ignore," said Gleason. "I'm hoping over the next two years this can all change for the better."

Is Ms. Gleason aware that the tax levy cap shrinks by a quarter point each year over the next two years? Is there some law of economics that only she understands? Evidently not, because Peter McIntyre jumped on the bandwagon.

"This is the first one in B," said McIntyre, adding that he did not want to proceed with giving token funding back to each one. "We are in a terrible bind financially. Maybe 2 or 3 years down the line we can look at some of these."

Seeing the sense of the Council, Seveney had no choice but to withdraw his motion, but he clearly wasn't happy. "I don't think we're hitting the priorities," he said, and moved to zero fund the American Legion.

And it continued that way: Red Cross: Zero. Anthony House bus trip: Zero. Boy Scouts: Zero. Child and Family Services: Zero.

East Bay Community Action Plan CEO Dennis Roy pleaded with the Council. "We delivered conservatively over $400K in services into Portsmouth in the last year," he said. "We want you to be part of that solution. I ask that you consider the work that we do."

Zero.

"Good luck," Roy muttered to the CEO of Newport County Mental Health as he approached the table. It didn't help. NCMH: Zero.

Newport County Womens' Resource Center, Samaritans, Visiting Nurse Services: Zero. Volunteer Center of Rhode Island: Zero. Youth Success: Zero.

All youth sports programs: Zero.

I'm reminded of the comment that Councilor Len Katzman made last year at this same meeting. He said, "When people say that they want less government — this is what less government looks like."

Dr. Numi Mitchell shows coyote packs on Aquidneck Island.

Shifting gears, Town Administrator Bob Driscoll introduced Dr. Numi Mitchell, the lead scientist on the Narragansett Bay Coyote Study to talk about the results of her team's study of the population on Aquidneck Island.

"Is it true they would chew their own leg off to escape from a trap?" Councilor Seveney asked. "I'd chew my leg off to get out of this meeting."

Dr. Mitchell reviewed some of the background — coyotes only came to Aquidneck Island about a dozen years ago, they are opportunistic omnivores, they are highly territorial, and they naturally control their population based on the availability of food. The study used GPS radio collars to track 17 coyotes in the 10 packs that exist on the island.

It was clear, said Mitchell, that they were finding food plentiful. "Whenever they are roadkill," she said, describing their lush fur, "They look like they lived on a diet of Nacho Supreme." And they were quick to learn the location of human-provided augmentations to their diet — "subsidies," in coyote-study jargon. Mitchell, showed a spike of visits to an area where winter kills from a lamb farm were stored. "One person feeding coyotes will train the entire family," she said.

But there was good news. Since they are territorial and naturally match population to food supply, a natural control program is cheap and feasible. "When you stop subsidizing coyotes, they defend a larger area. Decrease subsidies, you'll see a decrease in population." The next step she proposed was to work with the Council to develop wildlife feeding ordinances which would prevent inadvertent (or intentional) feeding.

Now I'm sure it was unintentional that Dr. Mitchell's presentation happened to fall on the civic support night, but it is hard to mistake the lesson. In nature, only the fittest survive, and subsidizing a pack only leads to an excess of coyotes. But what about Cub Scout packs? Or Samaritans? Are we really just animals, driven only by the laws of physics and biology, efferent agents of Nature red in tooth and claw?

This is what the conservatives would have us believe. The act of "giving" money to organizations like the Visiting Nurses only promotes sloth and excess, sleek coyotes feeding at the public trough, rooting through the dumpster at Burger King instead of fighting and killing for their supper.

Is this really who we are as humans? Is this really who we are as a community?

Is this the Portsmouth you want?

A source familiar with the Portsmouth School Committee reported that long-time member Doug Wilkey passed away last night. More details as they become available.

Update: An e-mail sent by the school department confirms the sad news, and says a memorial service will be scheduled next week.

Update 2: Sylvia Wedge, Chair of the Portsmouth School Committee remembered Mr. Wilkey:
"I shall miss Doug dreadfully. We sat next to each other all during the campaign — "the W factor" — and also, we were very good friends all through our time on the school committee. Doug was our historian — he knew everything in and about Portsmouth. Between Doug and his wife Marge, I believe that they are related in some way to every one of the original settlers in town."

Our thoughts are with Mr. Wilkey's family.

Update 3: Newport Daily News has a story up.

Update 4: Providence Journal story.

For the past ten years, parents and supporters of Portsmouth High School have pitched in to run a party after the Senior Prom, and the Class of 2008 needs your help to make this event happen on June 11 at the BPOE Elks Lodge in Newport. This is a great way to help our kids celebrate in a safe environment. From the release:

Organized and run by the parents of the seniors, this event allows our students to continue this memorable evening in a safe and alcohol/drug-free environment. The evening features a series of prize raffles, with each bigger and better than the previous one, ending with a Grand Prize at 4:00 am. As the suspense builds, the students are excited to stay for the duration of program, an important goal of the party. Students must stay to collect their prize. If they leave, they cannot return to the party. Refreshments and entertainment including a Nascar race track, a photo booth, a mechanical bull, and a caricature artist are ongoing throughout the event.

We are asking the Portsmouth Community to support the Post Prom Party for the Class of 2008.

The committee would be most grateful for donations of cash (any amount that you can give would be much appreciated). If you run a business, they would also welcome gift certificates, tickets, or merchandise which could be used for the door and raffle prizes. (And it's tax-deductible.)

Checks may be made out to PHS Post Prom and mailed to:

Portsmouth High School
Attention: Linda Pendleton, Post Prom
120 Education Lane
Portsmouth, RI 02871

If you have any questions, you can e-mail Joanne Lake, Dede Walsh, or Peggy Yates-Berg.

Lets help our kids have another safe, fun Prom night.

It wasn't the best weather, but at least some of the Portsmouth Little League teams got in their first games today. Jack's team (Norbury Construction) had some fun, and so did the parents — some huddling under blankets, and a lot of folks with coffee — but everyone cheering both teams on and having a great time.


And then we did the yearly pilgrimage to the Glen for Touch-a-Truck. It benefits the Portsmouth Public Library, and it's fun for kids of all ages. Ran into some parents from Hathaway (howdy!) as well as Library board member Matt Daily and the always charming and informative Jack Callahan. Bunny Miller and the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition were giving out balloons. Jack loves the complicated dashboards and all the controls.


I always check out the warning stickers on heavy equipment, and was not disappointed. Here's a delightfully terrifying warning sticker from a septic pumpout truck.

MoveOn.org has launched a very funny site that displays random facts and you have to guess whether they refer to King George or John McCain. Like these familiar themes:

Who said "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned?"
Who opposed health care for uninsured children last year?
Who graduated in the bottom 1% of his college class?

The answers may surprise (and horrify) you.

Take the Bush-McCain challenge