hard deadlines

RI Secretary of State Ralph Mollis this morning released the 2010 Election Calendar (pdf), which provides the key dates and deadlines for voters and candidates.

“I had the privilege of overseeing Rhode Island’s record-breaking elections in 2008," Mollis said in a statement. "More Rhode Islanders registered to vote and more turned out at the polls than at any other time in state history. I hope this year will be just as historic.”

I think Mollis is right — this is shaping up to be another historic year. We're going to see some competitive state races, with the new Moderate Party as a wildcard, and very likely some interesting slates locally. So don't miss out. Check the calendar.

Resources:
Info for voters
Info for candidates
Rules and Regulations
Voter Information Center

Science fiction author William Tenn (real name Philip Klass) died today at the age of 89, according to a note posted on his Web page. While not widely known outside the field, within sf he was highly respected for his dark, penetrating satire, much of it written in the Golden Age of 1940-60. In 1999, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) named him an Author Emeritus.

I have always liked Tenn's stories — my curiosity was first hooked by "Down Among the Dead Men," a grim little tale about reanimated corpses used as soldiers in a space war. I was very much looking forward to seeing him at the 2004 Worldcon in Boston, but that was the weekend my mother passed away.

Scott Edelman has a remembrance and link to a radio interview on WNYC. Tangent Online has an interview. Blogger Matthew Cheney has a nice piece on Tenn's fiction.

You can read about Tenn on Wikipedia. Tenn's collected fiction and nonfiction has been reprinted by the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) Press. Here's a link to Amazon.

My thoughts are with his family and friends.

The agenda for Monday night's Portsmouth Town Council meeting features an old business item asking the Council for a decision on the skate area in Island Park -- please be there, or if you can't make it, let the Council know how you feel.

Old business item three, requested by "B. Whittier" is "Request for a Decision on the Placement of a Skate Park in Island Park/Formation of a Portsmouth Skate Park Committee." Looks like the the Council is going to be forced to take a position. Here's what I hope they will consider.

At the community meeting requested by the Council last week, there was no agreement to be found. Despite the best efforts of several elected officials, the same stalemate prevailed: opponents of the skate park refused to budge.

I have struggled with reporting on last week's meeting. It was not, in a very real sense, an official public meeting, and so reporting on the intemperate characterizations and angry rhetoric would serve no purpose. They are my neighbors, and although they said things which I consider to be hurtful and misinformed, the expectation of public dissemination implied by an "open meeting" does not attach.

What I think the community *should* know is that there was no compromise. All the concessions have come from the supporters of the skating area. In the course of several negotiating sessions, we abandoned the original design, changed the location within the park, and scaled the footprint way back.

The kids of Island Park have already created a makeshift skate area on the basketball court in the playground with home-built rails and ramps. The proposal on the table is to move them onto a same-sized area with safer equipment. The skate area will be subject to a probationary period for evaluation, and the equipment can be removed if there are issues.

The essence of compromise is that *both* sides are expected to be a little unhappy. I would expect that the Council, in seeking a fair resolution to this issue, ensure that both sides give a little. I hope you'll consider attending the meeting Monday to help the Council make their decision.

Can't be there? You can reach the Town Council at these e-mail addresses (hlittle@portsmouthri.com, dcanario@portsmouthri.com, kgleason@portsmouthri.com, khamilton@portsmouthri.com, jplumb@portsmouthri.com, jseveney@portsmouthri.com) and their phone numbers available on the Portsmouth Web site.

If you're on Facebook, check out the "Support the IP Skate Park" group.

Full disclosure: I am a member of the leadership team of the IPRA and (pretty obviously) a supporter of the skate park.

Click to embiggen. Image from RIDOT.

The whiners in the Hummocks will have a little less to complain about after the bars close on Park Avenue: RIDOT announced today that they have closed the on-ramp to 24 for Sakonnet River Bridge construction for the next six months.

“We apologize to the residents of Island Park and Common Fence Point for this inconvenience and for this late notice," RIDOT Director Michael Lewis said in a press release. "We are committed to providing advance notice of construction for the Sakonnet River Bridge project.”

Huh?

Okay, wev. Read the press release yourself.

Rhode Island House majority leader Gordon Fox has submitted legislation that would restore the state Ethics Commission's ability to investigate members of the general assembly for possible violations in votes and actions.

The bill would carve out an exclusion to the state constitution's protection for legislators, whose speech on the floor is generally protected. A Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling last June interpreted Article VI Sec. 5 to exempt legislators from the purview of the Ethics Commission, a situation Fox hopes to correct.

“There was never any discussion in 1986 about leaving the General Assembly out of the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction," said Fox in a statement. "This legislation will allow voters to reaffirm that they mean for the Ethics Commission to have the same jurisdiction over members of the legislature that they have over all other public officials, and I’m confident that they’ll approve it and set the record straight.”

The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and as a change to the state constitution, would need to be approved by voters.

The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Chris Fierro (D-51), Joy Hearn (D-66), Michael Marcello (D-4), Donna Walsh (D-36) and Douglas Gablinske (D-68) and others.

Editorial note: Written from GA press release.

Rhode Island student test scores on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) were announced yesterday, and Portsmouth's schools continue to perform above the state average, posting modest year-on-year gains. According to the RI Dept. of Education (RIDE), in Portsmouth, 84% of students were at or above proficient in reading and 75% in math, compared to state averages of 70% and 54% respectively. Yearly gains were incremental, with an average 1.3% increase for reading and 2.7% in math.

Okay, that was the good news first.

Drilling down at the elementary level, both Hathaway and Melville elementary schools posted 5% increases in reading proficiency, while Elmhurst showed a slight decline. In math, Melville showed a 6.2% increase, with Hathaway following at 1% and Elmhurst at 0.4%. In terms of total percent proficient, Elmhurst and Melville were tied, with 86% in reading and 85% in math. Hathaway lagged, with 79% and 73%. While all these numbers are comparable to neighboring districts (Middletown, Newport, and Tiverton), the gap among the Portsmouth schools is noticeable.

At the middle school, reading proficiency increased slightly (1.4%) while math declined by an equal percentage. Both fall below the state cutoff for significance of 3%. The absolute numbers for proficiency, at 83% for reading and 78% for math are above neighboring districts, but ten points below state-leading Barrington.

Portsmouth High saw a minor dip in reading (1.9%) but a big jump in writing (10%) and a whopping 14.7% increase in math proficiency. The absolute reading number, at 88%, is strong relative to our neighbors. But given the relatively lower level of proficiency measured in math — just 58% — it's especially encouraging to see the needle moving here. Yes, we have higher percentage proficient than our neighbors — and even Barrington only posted 66% proficient in math — but this is still low.

High school graduation rates, also included in the report, showed that Portsmouth continues to perform ten points above the state average, at 84%. It should be noted that this measure only includes those students who complete in 4 years. And while this is a higher percentage of graduates than neighboring communities, even discounting those who take an extra summer to finish, that's still a lot of kids.

My takeaways: Portsmouth's emphasis on reading is clearly working. I would say, "keep up the good work" to literacy coordinator Denise Dvorak and the whole staff of literacy coaches, as well all the teachers and staff who have clearly pitched in gained traction with their approach and demonstrated measurable gains. Job well done.

And the increases in math are encouraging, especially at the high school, which was highlighted in RIDE Commissioner Deborah Gist's press release for their double-digit gain.

But clearly, math is an area where continued focus is needed. As the parent of a Hathaway student, I'm very troubled that proficiency at the school lags both Elmhurst and Melville by ten points. And while the increase at the high school is to be celebrated, the absolute proficiency level there is just 58%. Are we making progress? Yes. But there's just no way to describe that as a positive number.

And of course, I know that these are standardized tests, so I'm not making too much of this. With sample sizes this small, variations from class to class can impact these numbers disproportionately, which is why I think it's only useful to note large divergences. Measures like this are just one indicator — and most certainly not a holistic one — of how well the district is performing.

Update: Newport Now has a story on the other districts on Aquidneck Island.

Resources:
NECAP report (pdf)
RIDE Assessment Office page with test scores

Visit the PSD site to download.

Last night's Portsmouth school committee workshop on the proposed facilities plan saw lots of questions but no vote, though chair Dick Carpender did promise to ask for a vote at the scheduled meeting next Tuesday.

"While RIDE (the Rhode Island Department of Education) will ultimately decide," said facilities subcommittee chair Mike Buddemeyer, "I'm looking for support to move forward." He urged the committee to "get something into the hopper" at RIDE, given the extended timeframe for consideration and construction, estimated by RGB to take 2.5-3 years.

School committee members heard a brief presentation of the recommended options from consultant Steven Hughes of Robinson Green Beretta (RGB). Two options were highlighted by Buddemeyer as more likely possibilities: the previous frontrunner, "Option 2" which would build a new consolidated elementary to replace Hathaway and Elmhurst, and "Option 3" which would refurbish Hathaway and Melville to retain 2 out of the 3 neighborhood elementaries. In all options, additional high-priority work needs to be done at the middle school, high school, and administration building.

Buddemeyer indicated that the facilities committee had preferred Option 2 by simple majority vote, with Option 3 close behind. The RGB consultant stressed that the decision-making had been up to the group. "Mike's committee went through this independently," said Hughes. "They did not have the 'hired guns' telling them what to do."

One factor which made Option 3 more appealing last night, Hughes said, was a letter from the Navy indicating a willingness to discuss land bordering the Melville school. One of the issues with expanding Melville identified in the report is space constraints, since the building now occupies much of the available parcel.

The questions from the school committee reflected the reality that these proposals have been in front of them for a year now. (See coverage from January, 2009). But several members still found reasons to question the whole effort.

Angela Volpicelli asked "How would the facilities plan increase student achievement." Superintendent Susan Lusi patiently explained that while no correlation with test scores could be inferred, "if kids and teachers feel better about their environment, they bring a better attitude." Let me put this bluntly: kids learn better in buildings that don't suck. As the chair of the health and wellness subcommittee, I would think Ms. Volpicelli would be more familiar with the effects of indoor air quality, ergonomics, and appropriate task lighting.

Marilyn King's concern was about borrowing, and she used the Option 2 cost of $51M, tacked on $5M for debt service, and said "That's gonna be $56M" and that it would require "an 11% property tax increase."

"How did you get 11%?" said Carpender. I have the same question. Let's assume a 20-year term, and use her own number of $56M. That would require a yearly payback of $2.8M. According to numbers I have checked with the Town Finance department, each $50 increase for the average homeowner yields $610K. To pay the bond, the yearly apportionment for an average resident owning a $300K home would be $225. On a current tax bill of $3,255, that is a 7% increase.

I'm not saying Option 2 is the right choice, and I'm not saying that this is an insignificant amount; it's well worth having a discussion about. But come on — $18 bucks a month for new schools? Is that really so unreasonable?

Cynthia Perrotti asked a good question about transportation costs given reconfigured school locations.

Carpender reiterated the need to get into RIDE's pipeline and cautioned the committee against "paralysis by analysis" and that submitting the plan would not commit the town, since RIDE might well modify the recommendation, and there would be time to investigate costs fully during the year-long approval process. "There's a whole bunch of questions that need to be answered," said Carpender, "But we need to have adequate and efficient space for the students."

Lusi reminded the committee that only because of a temporary stay in fire-code compliance, due to sunset in January of 2011, had needed work even been deferred this year. "The lack of a decision is, in fact, a decision," said Lusi. "By not deciding, you are committing the community to the fire code work. It's not the case that we can keep students and teachers there with no investment."

Carpender said he planned to put the matter to a vote at next Tuesday's meeting.

Full disclosure: I am an appointed member of the Facilities Committee, and have been working on this plan for the last 18 months. So, yes, I have a perspective.