While roads are greatly improved, I want to remind everyone to please be patient as buses travel slowly and safely pick up and drop off our students. All our bus drivers are on extra alert in our neighborhoods as they travel through the City.
This past week Newport Public Schools, like most other school districts across the state, was out of school for the entire week. The Commissioner is reaching out to her Council to put forward a waiver for Monday and Tuesday of last week for all school districts since the state was under a state of emergency. Newport had already used one of our four snow days before the blizzard. As of this writing, the district has exhausted the additional snow days on our calendar last Wednesday-Friday and our official last day of school is June 30th.
Options to avoid going up until June 30th are underway. We are reviewing the total number of instructional minutes per day to see if we can bundle time into another school day. Another option is reducing our April vacation and/or attending school on Good Friday. Ultimately, all of these options must be considered and approved by Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green and the Newport School Committee, as well as input and feedback from our Unions. We will keep everyone informed as soon as a final decision is reached.
Now that we are back, it is imperative that we refocus on Attendance Matters, Every Day! We are in a critical stretch of learning time. March is an incredibly important month for our students to train their "mental muscles" and master key concepts before taking state-mandated RICAS and SAT exams at the end of the month and into April. (Note that exam dates may change due to missed school days from last week’s blizzard) Our students cannot learn if they are not in school, and missing even a few days can create learning gaps that are hard to make up. So please reinforce the importance of attendance with your child, and be sure to talk with them every day about their school day.
Finally, we are in the middle of preparing our FY 2027 school budget. At present, we are looking at a deficit of approximately $1.5 million dollars. As always, we are confident we will be able to work collaboratively with our partners on the Newport School Committee and the Newport City Council to reach a budget that supports the needs of our students, teachers, and community. We will be making a budget presentation at the Newport School Committee’s next meeting on Tuesday, March 10th at 6:30pm at Pell Elementary.
Thank you once again to our entire One Newport community for coming together to dig out sidewalks and bus stops across the city to support our students!
Have a great week of learning everyone!
Colleen Burns Jermain, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
