Help Halt Rushed Pell School Design

We, the undersigned residents of Newport, petition the Newport City Council to take this opportunity to understand our concern regarding the Pell School. We are supportive of a new elementary school at the Sullivan site and wish to see a great school emerge. To date, there has been a closed and rushed process to build.

Last week Newport voters were presented with an unexpected opportunity to open a dialogue between school officials and the voters of Newport who approved the $30 million school bond on the first ballot.  All bids to build the new Pell School came in at $4 million over expectation.   School officials may be shocked by this development, but as voters, we are aghast.  This lack of professional competence has shaken to the core our confidence this is a sound project.  The rush to “fix” this problem by next Tuesday’s School Committee meeting leaves no time for analysis or reflection of the proposed cuts by any of the stakeholders.

This fire drill mentality makes one wonder how such a frantic timetable could ever positively affect the outcome. This will probably be the last school built in the next 50 years. Why the rush? Do we want to test the axiom “haste makes waste” ?

Why not take this opportunity to have an open process and dialogue? To date, this has not been the case.  Since this is apparently not going to be the school we have been informed we approved when the bond passed, now it is time to see and understand what is planned. Why not have a series of, well-advertised, public workshops to view the new proposed plans and together encourage viable, creative solutions to any cuts so as to not compromise our children’s education.  Community based solutions will help knit the community.

We ask the City Council members to attend the meeting on November 1 and to listen to the conversation and concerns of Newport citizens.  Schools are the lynchpin of our community and your involvement in the process is essential.