hard deadlines

Portsmouth school finance director Mark Dunham explains restricted funds.

There were just 6 people in attendance at the Portsmouth School Finance subcommittee meeting tonight, and despite the somewhat theatrical buildup given in the Newport Daily News (who didn't bother to send a reporter) there were no secret pots of money discovered, no moment where a school committee member leaped up and said, "Aha! It was Colonel Mustard, in the Conservatory, with the Candlestick."

Rather, it was a prosaic but instructional two hour meeting in which Finance Director Mark Dunham walked through spreadsheets describing each of the restricted accounts (Federal Title I, Title II, Title IV, IDEA, state Article 18), while Asst. Supt. Colleen Jermain, and Supt. Susan Lusi provided any necessary backup on the nature of the fund and the and its restrictions.

Finance subcommittee chair Mike Buddemeyer explained why he wanted everything in so much detail. "I only want to do this once," he said.

At the end of the meeting, the subcommittee voted to direct the administration to produce the same reports on a quarterly basis for the school committtee's review. I would urge anyone who still has questions to watch the tape on Channel 18.

Full disclosure: I am a candidate for Portsmouth School Committee.

The Portsmouth school budget referendum has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 5, according to a posting this afternoon on the Save Our Schools web site. Absentee ballots will be available from September 15.

SOS organizer Dave Croston reminded students who are still registered here in Portsmouth to stop by Town Hall. "Students should visit the Canvassers Office before they head-out for school and sign-up to receive an absentee ballot. Emergency ballots will also be available up to the election."

According to an e-mail from Croston, the final tally of signatures validated by the Canvasser's office was 1,871.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who made this happen, and to everyone who signed.

According to Registrar of Voters Madeleine Pencak, Portsmouth's canvassing authority verified sufficient signatures this morning to hold a special referendum election on the school budget.

Pencak said there were "another 600" names left to count, so the Save Our Schools organizers had met the goal with room to spare.

Once the board finishes reviewing all the submitted signatures, the date will be set for the all-day election where the single question will be whether to maintain the budget set by the Town Council or add back $765K of the $1.2M that was cut.

The recently passed Education Jobs Bill will pump $26B in federal aid to cash-strapped states in order to save teacher positions and other municipal jobs, but according to an analysis by education policy blogger Jason Becker, the likely impact for Portsmouth would be less than $40K.

Based on the spreadsheet posted on Becker's blog, Portsmouth would likely receive around $36K if the money is distributed based on the ratio used for Title I (low-income district) funding. If the funds were distributed using the recently approved state education funding formula, the district could get as much as $143K.

According to a RI Department of Education (RIDE) spokesperson quoted in the ProJo, it was "likely" that the Title I scheme would be used. At last Tuesday's school committee meeting, Supt. Susan Lusi said that she had not heard definitively from RIDE which formula would be used, and said, "I do not know what that would mean for Portsmouth."

Obviously, anything that helps in our current crunch is appreciated, and even $40K could help keep or expand time for a teacher. But based on Becker's analysis, this isn't going to be a magic bullet.

David Croston submits signatures to Town Clerk Kathy Viera-Beaudoin as Terri Cortvriend and Nancy Zitka look on.

At 8:40 this morning, David Croston and a contingent of volunteers from Save Our Schools (SOS) submitted nearly 100 sheets containing 2,039 names, according to a count from the Portsmouth Town Clerk's office. It took the staff about 45 minutes to timestamp, photocopy, and tally the sheets, after which they walked them across the hall to Town Canvasser Madeleine Pencak where the process of verifying names would begin.

"This is the first step in supporting and investing in the education system which many of us moved to Portsmouth to experience," said Croston, who added that SOS would now reach out to the whole community to share facts and success stories about the schools. "Voters will see by [the date of the referendum] that we have one of the most efficient systems in Rhode Island, one we can be proud of."

Pencak was not able to estimate how long the verification process might take — according to the Town Charter, they have a maximum of two weeks. From there, she said, assuming sufficient signatures, the Town Clerk would call the special election.

Personal note: Given that the special election could happen as soon as 30 days after verification, if you're not registered to vote yet, please get on down to Town Hall this week. (Hey, you were going to do that anyway, since the cutoff to vote in the September primary is Saturday, right?)

The drive to collect Portsmouth voter signatures in support of a budget referendum reached its goal over the weekend, according to Save Our Schools organizer David Croston. As of Sunday night, volunteers had turned in sheets totalling nearly 1,800 names, providing a comfortable margin over the 1,290 required.

The signature sheets will be delivered to Town Hall tomorrow, Croston said, where the Canvasser's Office will start checking each one. Assuming that enough registered voter names are certified, a date for the budget referendum will be set.

Personal note: I was one of the group that sat around Croston's patio table for several hours last night, scanning the names on every sheet and literally counting everything three times. As it slowly sank in that the goal really had been met, with a good safety buffer, there was a such a feeling of relief and gratitude.

I want to say thank all the volunteers who worked so hard over the past week to make this happen. You were out there walking your neighborhoods, knocking on doors, sitting for hours at tables flagging down walk-by traffic, waving signs, standing (on public property) to catch drivers, mingling with crowds at the high school, getting rained on at the Sign and Drive, and working the line at the transfer station. You got sunburn and stares, maybe had a few uncomfortable conversations, but you persevered. You were out there smiling and explaining, engaging the people of Portsmouth, and bringing back a truly impressive number of signatures. You made this happen. You totally rock. Thank you.

And thank you to everyone who signed. Thanks for your support for the schools and for the democratic process. Thanks for taking the time to stop and talk, to ask questions, to engage in the process, and to put your name down to be counted. We needed every single signature, and you came through. Thank you.

And I want to offer a special thanks to those who plan to vote "no" at the election but who signed anyway. You are showing the true colors of democracy by putting a commitment to listen to the people above position or ideology. You have my respect and thanks.

Volunteers gathering signatures for the school budget referendum were out at the Portsmouth Transfer Station all day Saturday in addition to working the crowd at Sandy Point Beach. At the Transfer Station, by this reporter's informal estimate, at least 200 signatures were collected; given that the day began with the count at around 1,100, it appears that supporters are making good progress toward the magic number of 1,500.

Today, Sunday, there will be someone collecting signatures near the Dunkin Donuts on East Main Road, and you may also spot people outside the parking lots after some church services. Volunteers are continuing to circulate in their neighborhoods, so if you see someone coming up the walk with a clipboard, chances are they're just looking for a signature.

There will be volunteers at cheerleading tomorrow night. For other locations and the latest info, visit the Save Our Schools web site.

Personal note: I spent about six hours at the Transfer Station yesterday with Dave Croston, Jim Seveney, and Len Katzman, with help from Glenn Steeley and Val Seveney. In that time, I personally spoke with more than one hundred Portsmouth residents, and I was very encouraged by those conversations. The majority I spoke with signed immediately and expressed support for the proposed change to the budget.

There was a smaller group — perhaps 20 percent — who expressed doubt or opposition, but signed the petition anyway because they said they believed that the people should get to decide. I want to say thanks to those folks: you are showing the true spirit of democracy.

A small group, perhaps 10 percent, did not wish to sign. Only a handful either drove past with their windows rolled up or stopped to yell. Those who stopped, I politely thanked for their time and said I respected their opinion.

Are the views of transfer station users markedly different from the universe of registered Portsmouth voters? I don't know. But this was certainly a more random sample than the "Sign and Drive" events, where we knew everyone driving up was, well, there to sign.

I felt very encouraged about the prospects for passing the referendum if we can get the required signatures by Wednesday. So if you haven't signed yet, let's get this done!

See the Portsmouth Patch story, Sign and Drive Campaign Accelerates Into Last Lap