Superintendent's Update
Newport Public Schools | December 3, 2025
Dear Newport Schools Parents, Families, and Staff:
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with good times with family and friends, and good food!
I know that our community is still grappling with the totally unacceptable behavior of several members of the Rogers football team. The Newport Police Department has arrested four students involved in these incidents and is continuing their investigation. On November 26th, the Newport School Committee also voted unanimously to conduct an independent investigation. School Committee Chair James Dring shared this statement about the purpose of the investigation:
Chair Jim Dring:
The independent review will focus on the school system’s response to the reported incidents, including:
Whether procedures were properly followed;
Where communication or oversight broke down;What systemic issues may have contributed; andWhat corrective actions are required.This investigator will work on our behalf to answer the many questions the community is asking. First, we need the facts. Between the Police Department’s criminal investigation and our independent review of what happened inside our schools, I am confident that we will be able to provide a full accounting to our community by the end of next month.
And I will say again: We will make sure no incident like this ever happens again.
I will be sure to update everyone once these investigations are complete so that we can begin to understand how this happened and what steps we need to take as a school district, and as a community to heal, improve, and provide the best for our students and families.
Continuing on, I want to send a big thank you to all of the parents who took time out of their busy schedules on Monday to attend parent-teacher conferences. There is no better way to be an engaged parent than speaking with your child’s teachers about how they are doing in the classroom.
