Candidates for Newport School Committee discuss regionalization, budgets at forum

Candidates for Newport School Committee discuss regionalization, budgets at forum
Savana Dunning
Newport Daily News

NEWPORT – Candidates for the School Committee participated in a candidate forum on Thursday, taking their first opportunity of this election season to share their thoughts regarding regionalization, the budget and student achievement, among other topics.

This is one of several candidate forums hosted by the Newport County branch of the League of Women Voters and Newport This Week, allowing candidates for local office to present their platforms to the voters. The events are co-sponsored by East Bay Media Group, AARP RI, Involve Newport, and The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.

All but one of the candidates were present at the forum. Although Incumbent Robert Leary will still be on the ballot in November, he was recovering from a medical procedure and was unable to attend. 

In her closing statement, current School Committee chair Rebecca Bolan announced this will be her last time seeking reelection to the School Committee, expressing a desire to see the Rogers High School building finished before passing the torch to the next generation. 

Here were the candidate responses to the questions posed at the forum:

Describe what you feel are the two most important roles of the school committee

The majority of candidates shared the opinion that the school committee fulfills two main roles: to control the school budget and to set district policies, with candidates Molly Kaptstein Cote and Loretta Burke honing in on the budget aspect as a specific area of interest. Candidate Penelope Billings Hunt spoke to how her experience in finance can help the committee advocate for their financial needs to the council and state. Incumbent James Dring made note of changes to the enabling legislation that limited the committee’s ability to make personnel decisions. 


Candidate Robert Power discussed the need for policies to be proactive rather than reactive and incumbent Rebecca Bolan noted that the committee needs to ensure the policies are up to date and enacted correctly. 

Incumbent Stephanie Winslow and fellow candidate Elizabeth Cullen spoke on the committee’s role in managing the superintendent and keeping her accountable and, alongside fellow candidate Kendra Muenter, spoke on the need to advocate for the students as a part of the committee’s work. 

Share your views on the importance of early childhood education and how it can impact student success in the coming school years.

All candidates expressed strong support for early childhood education, with Flowers and Burke arguing for increased support for parents as their children’s first educator. Winslow and Muenter spoke on their desire for universal pre-kindergarten, both locally and statewide, and Hunt touched on how economic factors and personal or cultural differences might impact whether parents send their children to daycare and preschool. Both Bolan and Power noted that while there are many programs in place to prepare students for school, the district’s challenge is to meet the needs of the many kids who come in at varying levels of education. Cote spoke to this as well, arguing that the department should help teachers learn how to teach a variety of learning styles. Both she and Dring made note of the low reading and math scores throughout the district, which could be improved with preschool. Cullen emphasized the importance of reading and supporting reading programs.

Newport School Committee candidates discussed their opinions on a wide range of topics at a forum held Thursday. From Left to Right: Elizabeth Cullen and James Dring.
What is your position on mental health services in schools and how do you propose to improve access to these services for students?

Many candidates pointed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health, with Winslow, Bolan and Power noting how difficult it is to find mental health services providers, especially ones who speak Spanish, to help students in need. Hunt argued for the creation of a pipeline that could bring in diverse, knowledgeable staff to support mental services in the schools. Cullen also spoke to the need for more counselors, suggesting that schools should be a hub for services. Cote advocated for trauma-informed counseling, sharing an anecdote about her own child’s struggle at school after losing a parent. Flowers made note of several community organizations helping to support the schools in this arena, including Newport Mental Health and the Newport County Prevention Coalition. A topic touched on by Bolan, Dring and Burke which was expanded on later was the idea that banning cell phones in classrooms will improve mental health. This idea, which was expanded on later, is something that will be before the Newport School Committee sometime in the near future. 

What is your five or 10-year vision for Thompson Middle School? Should it stay in the same location and be repaired as necessary or should the city relocate the students to some other building?

Many candidates pushed back against the idea that Thompson Middle School should be relocated from its current home on Broadway. However, Bolan, Dring, Power and Burke suggested that, given the city’s declining student population, regionalizing school districts with Middletown might necessitate these kinds of changes. Flowers said the school building just needs to be continually maintained. Cote said she was unaware of any concerns about Thompson’s building, while Hunt said the concerns she has heard are because it is not a traditional suburban school with large sports fields. However, if extracurricular needs are met, she has no problem with the school staying in its current home. Muenter said the location is ideal and many students enjoy walking to it, fostering a sense of independence in them. Cullen suggested the city should explore “out-of-the-box” solutions, such as rearranging the grade structure among the schools so that fifth graders are a part of Pell Elementary, selling the Thompson building or annexing the building to City Hall. Instead of talking about the building itself, Winslow made note that middle school is a tough age in general and the teachers have been struggling with inconsistent leadership for years. 


What is your 10 or 20 year vision for Rogers High school? Will it just be for Newport’s 9-12 graders, or something else?

Nearly all of the candidates hoped for expanded programming at Rogers, especially at the Newport Area Career and Technical Center, which provides vocational training for students across Aquidneck Island. Power, Dring and Cote touched on how regionalization might come into play at the new Rogers High School building, although Cote was also envisioning how Pell and Thompson can have more consistent student goals to better feed into the high school. Burke called Newport a “city of trades,” and was interested in boosting the vocational programming provided there, including JROTC, while Muenter suggested they add programming so students can explore careers related to the city’s marine technology industry. Winslow supported flexibility in programming, noting that they can’t predict what careers will be most needed 10 to 20 years out.

Flowers and Bolan noted that the new building will have more room for community use, with Bolan envisioning after-school programming for adults eager to learn new skills. Cullen suggested collaboration with Salve Regina University’s education program to create a kind of study school to better prepare the university’s future educators to meet current needs.

Do you think Newport Schools are doing enough to meet the needs of our English Language Learner students and their families. If not, how could it improve?

Nearly one in five students in Newport Public Schools are Multilingual Learners (18.8%), and 97% of those were assessed as being Non-Proficient in English, according to the district’s 2022-23 RI Department of Education report card. Not all these students are primarily Spanish speakers, as Flowers and Muenter pointed out during the forum, however, Spanish-speaking students are a large part of this population. Muenter and Bolan noted the work Conexión Latina, a local community organization, has been doing in helping Spanish-speaking families feel more comfortable engaging with the schools and Winslow argued the need to continue making these families feel comfortable while addressing bias against immigrants. 

Hunt and Cullen touched on the recent cuts made to ELL support staff, with Cullen noting that many of those working in the city’s large hospitality industry are Spanish speakers whose children attend Newport Public School. While Flowers and Cote pushed back against conflating these students with the hospitality industry, arguing all students should be encouraged to pursue high-paying careers, Cullen later defended her statement, arguing that was not the intent behind her comment.

Power and Cote spoke on the fact that this is a statewide concern, with Power relating his experience with the large Portuguese-speaking population in Bristol and Cote saying there might be state programs coming of which Newport can take advantage. Burke gave no solutions, but expressed support for the teachers working with ELL students. 

The bullying situation among students, both physical and virtual, has reached a level that is affecting all students. What ideas do you have to effect drastic change?

It was during this question that many of the candidates, specifically Bolan and Dring, expressed support and elaborated on the need for removing cellphones from students while they are in school. Muenter and Winslow also supported the removal of cellphones, but shared Cullen, Flowers and Power’s view that there are a lot of reasons for bullying and those root problems need to be addressed, whether it be at home or a result of academic or social insecurity. 

Burke argued that bullying is the result of the “breakdown of the family” in the United States and that children raised in “broken” or single-parent homes lack the structure to support them, causing them to lash out. She also argued for cellphone removal, and claimed students wearing pajamas to school contributes to a lax culture in the classroom. 

Hunt and Cote emphasized a need for community engagement, with Hunt arguing that building strong relationships between parents and and their schools can foster understanding when disputes happen and Cote suggesting support for parents to teach listening and kindness from a young age could help.

How will you support and retain teachers, especially those working in high-needs areas, to ensure they can effectively help struggling students?

Many candidates touched on the ongoing labor dispute between the teachers union and the school department, with Hunt wanting to explore the issue in more detail to better understand their concerns and Dring and Bolan hoping for a quick resolution to the dispute. Cullen argued that the issue stems from a lack of communication at the administrative level 

Muenter, Winslow, Burke and Cote argued for supporting teachers through tools and professional development as a way to make teachers feel better prepared to help the needs of today’s students. Power noted that retention is tied to support and that workers will stay in good work environments, although he acknowledged that some of the loss comes from the fact that many cannot afford to live close to Newport Public Schools.

The candidates were asked a series of yes or no questions. 

The first question, which asked candidates whether they would support the superintendent in the ongoing labor dispute was rejected by the candidates, who argued the question was asking them to take sides, so the moderator moved on to the second question, which asked whether the candidates would support and defend the equality and safety of LGBTQ students. All answered unanimously that they would. Candidates also unanimously answered in support of all students having access to Advanced Placement courses and the regionalization with Middletown is not a dead conversation.

However, some candidates differed in opinion when it came to a question as to whether they believe standardized testing is an adequate measure of student achievement. Most candidates said no, however, Dring and Cullen were among those who said it is.

Another yes or no question was asked as a part of the later audience question portion, which asked whether candidates believed students should reach certain benchmarks in order to advance to the next grade level. Like the previous question, candidates generally agreed there should be a standard, however Powers and Bolan noted that there are barriers and certain situations which make a blanket standard unfair for some students. Winslow was the sole candidate against a minimum standard for grade advancement.

The audience was also encouraged to submit questions, three of which were asked to the candidates. The first asked candidates for more detail about how they plan to enforce the cell phone policy discussed earlier.

Cote and Winslow emphasized the importance of straightforward policy writing as a way to ensure it is properly enforced, penalties and accountability included. Flowers, Dring, Power, Cullen and Hunt spoke to the importance that all members of staff, from teachers to administration, are on board in supporting the policy, with Hunt questioning whether the cell phone policy in place for teachers could be a way for them to set an example for students. 

The second audience question asked how candidates planned to hold administration accountable for what they saw as overspending in the district while continuing to see poor test scores and declining enrollment.

Many candidates, such as Bolan, pushed back against the idea that the school department is overspending, although Burke noted that Newport is among the municipalities that spends the most money per pupil on education. Dring said accountability lies in the school committee because it ultimately approves the budget and also said he felt the recent cuts weren’t distributed fairly between teaching staff and administration. 

Cullen said they should have achievement benchmarks for administration and put more emphasis on student success, while Cote and Flowers pushed back against the idea that Newport’s students are not achieving, with Cote arguing the district is just under the state average for student advancement to higher education. 

Power and Muenter both pointed out that about 85% of the budget goes toward the necessary expense of salaries and Hunt pointed to recent cuts to show that the district has pulled back spending in relation to declining enrollment.

The third audience question asked how the committee can better support parents and families who want to engage but do not know or are unable to attend meetings for various reasons.

Many echoed their sentiments from the question regarding ELL students, with many incumbents like Dring and Bolan remarking on the increased participation of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking families at local meetings thanks to the work of community organizations like Conexión Latina. Muenter and Flowers spoke about other community efforts, such as International Nights at the elementary and middle schools, which they feel has broadened cultural understanding among the community. Hunt suggested encouraging more participation in extracurriculars, which can give parents a greater sense of community and Winslow noted that the committee needs to consider Black students and their families as a part of this discussion as well.

The final audience question asked how the committee envisions its relationship with city council going forward, given the tense nature of discussions surrounding issues like the Rogers High School project.

All of the candidates hoped for improved relations between the council and school committee in the upcoming terms, with Burke hoping for a “shake up” in both bodies to help with that process. Cullen expressed optimism because of the new City Manager and leadership of the current chair of Newport City Council, Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong. Dring and Hunt noted that the tension is somewhat inherent, as the committee has to ask the council for funding every year and, in that same vein, Power and Winslow discussed the nature of both bodies and how they both are tasked with large, difficult jobs. Power and Winslow, alongside Cote, Muenter and Bolan, also expressed the importance of building relationships with city councilors through one-on-one discussions.