Priorities

Funding public education requires constant advocacy to protect the interests of students and educators.  I will work to advocate at the local and state level to fully fund Newport Public Schools’ annual budget and special building needs. At the same time, I will closely study our budget to justify our expenses and make pragmatic assessments of the cost / benefit of programs, as needed.  

At the local level, school funding is directly affected by our housing stock. Districts like Newport that have higher percentages of rental housing and lower percentages of year-round, owner-occupied properties experience greater pressure from landlords and second homeowners to keep property taxes low. 

At the state level, Newport receives compensation in the state funding formula for a high level of students coming from households experiencing poverty.  However, the formula also reduces the allocation to Newport due to the fact that we have high property values as compared to other communities. My background in financial analysis will allow me to identify the key drivers in these complex formulas and work with our Newport City Council and state legislators to push for funding to benefit Newport Public Schools.

Newport Public Schools overall report low levels of proficiency as measured by standardized testing.  While I fully believe in the implicit bias and one-dimensional nature of standardized testing, the levels of testing proficiency in Newport Public Schools are alarmingly low.  There is no single solution to improving student achievement, as public schools are a complex tapestry of unique individual teachers and students that comprise the culture and the skills needed to achieve success.  My goal is to ensure that students graduating from Newport Public Schools have the skills and opportunities they need in order to pursue a path to financial stability and be advocates for themselves and their families through the rest of their lifetime. 

Students and teachers across America are still struggling with the social and academic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges of learning during COVID undermined cultural norms about school attendance and exacerbated the structural inequities in our society. Newport Public Schools has experienced many of these national trends including chronic absenteeism and increased mental health and behavioral challenges among our young people that reflect the stressors in our post-pandemic society.  To support our young people through this vulnerable time, we need continued strong funding and leadership.  Districts across the country are struggling to produce balanced operating budgets as COVID-era funding dries up.  Our students and teachers need reliable funding to be able to focus on the classroom work instead of being worried about budget shortfalls. We need strong leadership in our schools to re-engage with families and focus on academic outcomes.

Effective administration includes strong communication and proactive planning. Newport Public Schools needs a comprehensive communications plan that reviews the various methods of communication available to reach both parent and general community audiences and provides a centralized reliable source of information. Every effort should be made to plan in advance and to promote a culture of planning and preparedness throughout the district’s efforts in order to best support students and their families. 

This planning and preparedness should extend to the district’s administrative activities as well, including financial planning.  During recent joint meetings between the City Council and School Committee, some pain points occurred in response to questions about the district’s lack of transparency about financial projections for upcoming budget surpluses or deficits or multi-year planning projections. I hope to work with the administration to develop more effective responses to these financial planning issues.

As a parent at the Pell School for the last two years, I have observed that there is a low level of parent engagement in groups such as the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), the School Improvement Team (SIT) and the Parent Advisory Council.  The reasons for low parent engagement are varied, but I hope to work to better engage a wider circle of parents with the district through a more varied approach to volunteer opportunities and a better planning timeframe.