Newport leaders press state legislators on school regionalization and uncertain reimbursements

Newport city officials and members of the local school committee met with state legislators to discuss pursuing school regionalization with neighboring districts, but were warned that funding outcomes are uncertain and would require new legislative and municipal steps.

At the briefing, the delegation confirmed that any regionalization question must be refiled — “we have to do it again,” a legislative staffer said — and that the municipal council must adopt a resolution in advance of placing a new question on the ballot. Lawmakers also described statutory pieces that affect district reimbursements, most notably a longstanding 2% per-grade bonus in Rhode Island General Law that supplements the base reimbursement.

Beth Collin of the Newport School Committee told lawmakers the city could lose roughly $7 million under one proposed funding formula, driven in part by high local property valuations. Collin urged lawmakers to consider consolidation and asked that the legislature safeguard transportation, special-education and other budget items that municipalities now shoulder.

Senators and representatives at the briefing emphasized that the 2% per-grade bonus is established in state statute and unlikely to vanish, but that other reimbursement enhancements are discretionary and can vary by how a regionalization bill is drafted. One legislator noted a new proposal to raise the regionalization bonus beyond 2% had been circulated to the delegation, but that changes of that size would carry additional legislative scrutiny.

City members pressed for clarity on how the state would calculate reimbursements and whether a municipal ask for an 80 percent reimbursement would be credible. Legislators said municipalities can request any figure, but actual rates will be guided by statutory frameworks and by how enhancement criteria are met.

The meeting closed with a request from the council and the school committee for more granular modeling and for legislative help drafting language that reflects Newport’s priorities. Officials recommended compiling local data and pursuing council resolutions and testimony to the relevant House and Senate committees ahead of bill-filing deadlines.