Farewell, Dr. Devine
July 13, 2010

Farewell, Dr. Devine.  You have served Little Compton in an exemplary manner since June 2005.  You have brought credibility and transparency to the School Department's education program, its budgeting process, and its administrative functions.  You have saved the townspeople hundreds of thousands of dollars by outsourcing the transportation and by carefully managing the funds made available to you.  You have been cited numerous times for keeping Little Compton's taxes low.  Your opinions are often sought out on a variety of subject areas involving the operation of school.  In our opinion, you have had a perfect record.

 And for this, you have literally been drummed out of Little Compton by the actions of three members of the School Committee whose allegiance lies with the unions and not with what's best for the town.  They have never given a good reason for pushing you out other than a feeble "He's better suited for a big school"... as if they would know given that none of them have a background in education.

And who are these three?  Mike Harrington, Lynn Brousseau, and Micah Shapiro.  Shame on them!

We will miss you.  We sincerely wish you the best of good times with the lucky school system that hires you.  We're sure that your replacement will do a good job over time, but she will have to go a long way to fill your shoes.

Please do not think harshly of the people of Little Compton as almost all of them respect and admire you.  It's only those three named above and union people who have no limits in their quest for more and more benefits from the town, and who have caused this unnecessary upheaval.

This November, we will have the opportunity to rid the town of one of three above at the voting booth - Mike Harrington.  But we will have to wait another two years before we get our chance at the other two.  We'll let you know how we make out.

Farewell, Dr. Devine.

 CHARTER CHANGE - VOTED DOWN!
July 8, 2010

The Charter Review Commission proposed three additions/changes to the Charter for approval of the Town Council on July 8, 2010. Charter changes must be approved by the Town Council prior to their inclusion on the Ballot at the coming general election this November.

The most significant change was the stipulation that all LABOR CONTRACTS negotiated by the Town Council and the School Committee, be submitted to the electors at the next general election for ratification after they have been approved. The distinct advantage of the proposal was that it leveled the "playing field" and gave the electors (taxpayers) the same rights enjoyed by the members of Labor Unions. After negotiations the Labor negotiators submit the proposed contract to their members for their approval and validation. Why not the same privilege for the Taxpayers?

Contracts covering the Police and Fire Unions are subject to binding arbitration and therefore under state law that would trump validation by the electors. However the contracts covering the school are not subject to that limitation. Since budgets are the direct result of the contents of labor contracts, the terms and conditions in those contracts should have the benefit of the validation by those paying the bill -- the electors. Almost three quarters of the town budget are for school purposes  -- this is not a trivial exercise.

Cutting a budget at the Financial Town meeting is a fruitless exercise because the town is already bound by the labor contracts previously negotiated. In addition the qualified electors that chose to attend the meeting rarely exceeds 300 while the total qualified to attend and vote is over 2500. The turn out at general elections is usually about 1,200 and at times exceed that number!   

The Town Council chose not to put that Charter change before the electors this fall for their approval of the change. The vote was 3 against and 2 for the change -- one vote shy of a momentous change that would have changed the overwhelming power of the Labor Unions which have us on an unsustainable path leading to bankruptcy. Pleas to the Council to let the electors decide were not compelling enough to move the requirement for validation to the fall ballot! Even the fact that the 7 member Charter Review Commission was unanimously in favor of the change was not compelling enough.

As the chairman of the committee I was disappointed. Changes of this type do take time and effort to bring about change.  I will keep trying.

Roy Bonner
Chair, Charter Review Commission
Vice Chair, Little Compton Taxpayers Association

They owe us an explanation!
June 6, 2010

The School Building Committee has made a decision on architectural support, and the School Committee has gone along with it.  The Building Committee issued a request for proposals for architectural work on the school.  They picked the highest bidder with the least amount of experience in K-12 schools... NONE! to be specific.

Here's what the School Building Committee had to work with.

They negotiated Durkee-Brown-Viveiros-Werenfels down to $106,000.  One third of the original bid!  And it's still higher than RGB, the most qualified bidder which already has experience with Wilbur & McMahon School.  But Durkee-Brown-Viveiros-Werenfels is who they picked.  And they probably could have negotiated RGB to a lower price, but they chose not to do so.

They say that a good company learns from its mistakes.  After 2.5-Million Sq-Ft, one would have to say that RGB has learned from its mistakes.  Durkee-Brown-Viveiros-Werenfels is probably a good company and they will probably learn from their mistakes.  With zero experience in elementary schools, however, Little Compton will be the mistakes they learn from!

The School Committee owes us an explanation!

We have a new Fire Chief!
May 20, 2010

How to get a ZERO Tax increase!
May 13, 2010

Update: The motion failed on a voice vote.  The taxes go up 4.32%.

The present recommendation of the Budget Committee results in a tax increase of 4.32%. We do not believe that to be necessary. Money from the General Fund can offset that, as it did last year and resulted in a zero increase in our tax.

The Town has a Surplus of just over 2 million dollars. The Town's General Fund has a balance of 1.3 million dollars. That balance will grow as the fourth quarter taxes are paid in mid-June. Our motion to amend the "ARTICLE ONE of the Warrant,  after the Budget strokes are approved, will be made from the floor. We will move to add $400,000+/- to the amount in the "Revenues" section on page 15 of the Report of the Budget Committee. The present amount shown is $69,072.

If we are to prevail, we will need a sufficient turn out of voters to assure that our motion carries. We plan to ask for a Secret Ballot to avoid any miscalculation and to assure privacy on this important vote. We ask that you encourage your friends and neighbors to attend the FTM, stay to the end, and vote for our motion. We need you!

This was discussed during the May 13th Budget Committee Hearing, but was supported by only one of its five members.  The remaining four members spoke out against the idea. The reasons given are not, in our view, substantial enough to impose a sizeable tax increase in these difficult economic times. This is an opportunity for you to express your view and prevent an unnecessary tax increase.

School Building Committee to Hold Public Meeting
April 22, 2010

The School Building Committee is holding a public information meeting on Wednesday, April 28th.  We encourage you to go to the meeting and ask questions about the project where you have concerns.  The following is the announcement.  It includes a link to the Committee's web site for the project.

Note (April 29, 2010): A total of 33 townspeople attended.

Announcement

An Opportunity on April 28th

The Little Compton School Building Committee would like to invite the residents of Little Compton to attend a "roundtable" discussion with the Building Committee.  The only item on the agenda will be "public input" - that's it!!  We want to hear from you.  What have you heard?  What do you think?  If you've sat back and asked yourself, "What in the world is this Building Committee doing??", then we would love to have you there.

A recent article in the paper did a good job highlighting the things we have been working on, but that interview was almost three months ago!  We have new things to share with you, and we will dedicate some measure of time to bringing you up to speed, BUT, only if you would like us to.  This is YOUR meeting!!

The Wilbur McMahon School and its future is one of the most important issues this Town will ever consider.  The Building Committee needs to know how the residents of Little Compton feel.  We are acting on your behalf!!..

PLEASE COME!!!  This will be held at the School Commons on April 28th from 5:30 - 7:00 PM.  We will be serving some refreshments, given that this will be occurring during the dinner hour, so know that you won't be leaving hungry!  We will serve the food at 5:30, and give folks a chance to say hello.  We will  get to the business at hand right around 6:00, so know that if you are a little late, you won't miss anything.  Our Building Committee will be meeting immediately following, from 7:00 - 8:30, so you are welcome and encouraged to attend that meeting as well.   We are also planning to coordinate an "activities center" for those parents who may find difficulty in obtaining childcare for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, we invite you to visit our website.  The direct link to the website is:  http://sites.google.com/site/littlecomptonschools/, or access us through the school's website by clicking on "News" on the home page, and then clicking on "Building Committee".  We have created a calendar that shows what we are doing and when. Please take a look!!!  We will confirm on the website homepage if we are able to have the "activities center" on the 28th. 

On behalf of the Building Committee, Thank you.

Tom Allder
Chairman
LCSBC

School Building Committee On The Right Track
March 24, 2010

The School Building Committee, to its credit, responded positively to a proposal by the committee's chairman, Tom Allder, to narrow the focus of the committee to renovation and addition rather than tearing everything down and building new.  This is a far less expensive approach to resolving the school's infrastructure problems that the Little Compton Taxpayers Association has supported since an independent architect (RGB Architects from Providence) addressed this subject in a meeting of the committee.  RGB cleared away many of the misconceptions that had been left by the previous architect (JCJ) who evidently had a vested interest in building new. 

Although there was some resistance to Mr. Allder's proposal and the wording of the proposal was altered slightly to placate the dissenters, the final vote on the proposal was 7 to 3 in favor with one abstention.  Those voting NO were Lynn Brousseau, Beryl Borden, and BG Shanklin.

We commend Mr. Allder for bringing the real world to the School Building Committee and looking at things in a very logical and sensible light.  It should be noted that this vote is non-binding and could change should certain circumstance evolve. 

In fact, the wording of the proposal was changed to say "It is the sense of the committee that the Wilbur & McMahon School project is a 'renovation/addition' to the existing school with the intent of utilizing as much of the existing school as is architecturally, financially, and educationally prudent" rather than the original proposal which began "Vote to designate the 'scope of work' for the Wilbur McMahon School project as a 'renovation/addition' to the existing school..."

This is a giant step in the right direction because prior to this, the "sense of the committee" was to saddle the town with a 37-Million dollar bill by demolishing most of the school and building new.

But there are still those on the committee who favor that approach.  Needless to say, the Taxpayers Association will continue to closely monitor the activities of the School Building Committee.  When we are ready to fully support an approach, we will say so.

 School Building Committee Gets A Dose Of Reality
February 24, 2010

First off, let’s set the stage for you for the event that took place at last week’s meeting of the Little Compton School Building Committee.

Back in July of 2009, LCTA Board of Directors member, Roger Lord, made a presentation to the Little Compton Town Council on our view of the entire proposal of the then School Facilities Needs Committee which claimed that the town needed to replace the Wilbur & McMahon School. Our position was that the school is still a viable facility and should be repaired rather than replaced. At Roger’s suggestion the Council agreed that the Facilities Needs Committee needed to get a new independent review with an estimate of what it would take to bring the school up to date with new building and fire codes. Donald Gomez, Chairman of the Facilities Needs Committee, who was in attendance at our presentation, agreed with the council’s decision.

The Facilities Needs Committee generated a Request for Proposals (RFP) and an engineering evaluation was conducted by RGB Architectural/Engineering Company of Providence.  Their estimate to restore the facility was $10,479,980. By the time the estimate was returned, the Facilities Needs Committee had been dissolved and replaced by the School Building Committee. Unfortunately the estimate was ignored by the new committee which seems hell bent on building a new school.

Once again we pressed the issue with Building Committee Chairman Tom Allder and he finally agreed to have a representative of RGB appear before his committee to discuss their estimate and address refurbishing rather than replacing the school facility.

That brings us up to last Tuesday evening (Feb. 24^th). Mr. Steve Hughes of RGB who had conducted the engineering estimate addressed the School Building Committee. Mr. Hughes made a very comprehensive presentation of the results of his survey. It is RGB’s professional opinion that the school facility is structurally sound and could be repaired. He stated that the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is very reluctant to fund the tearing down existing schools and replacing them.

Hughes said that RGB has done over 2.5 millions of square feet of K through 12 work, and that it is always cheaper to refurbish than replace existing facilities. He added, that even if you had to totally gut the building and use only the existing structure, it is always more cost effective. It did not take a body language expert to note that his claims did not sit well with some members of the committee. Mr. Hughes had practical and factual responses to every question asked by committee members. He readily admitted that his survey did not address RIDE oriented educational program issues, but that is not what the RFP had called for them to do.

We could write a book about the history of this entire school building debacle. Let it suffice to say that it has been beset with misconceptions, mistakes, a less than satisfactory consultant (JCJ Corporation), an onslaught of idealistic education wonks who want to reinvent a highly successful school, and a massive waste of valuable time and money. Wilbur & McMahon is a high performing school and is not in need of major changes to facilitate the education program.

We compare JCJ’s misguided efforts and the RGB report to a sundial vs. an atomic clock. Also, RGB’s answers to questions about “fixing what we have” as creative, innovative, cost effective, and a common sense approach. They hit a home run while JCJ - time and time again - struck out. It is time to get away from a 35 million dollar project that we can’t afford.

We welcome your feedback and comments.

Harrington drops out - Building Committee

February 12, 2010

February 12, 2009: Chairman Tom Allder of the Little Compton School Building Committee in a surprise announcement today said that School Committee Chairman Michael Harrington has tendered his resignation from the Building Committee. Harrington sited “personal reasons” and that; “He can no longer dedicate the time required to fulfill his obligations as a member of the Building Committee.”

Mr. Harrington was one of four (4) members of the School Committee serving on the Building Committee.

The School Building Committee was appointed by the School Committee last November to work on the development of plans to build a new school in Little Compton.

It should also be pointed out that at the Walker fire on West Main Road a few weeks ago, the Fire Department decided, without explanation, NOT to use the Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) that the town purchased for them.  Instead, they used plain water and probably caused much more water damage than was necessary.  Guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

We have problems in the fire barn!

School Committee - There She Goes Again!

January 13, 2010

On January 6, 2010, the School Building Committee met.  Not much has changed.  Ben Gauthier gave a finance report where he tried to show that a $10-Million renovation is just about as expensive as the $37-Million new school.  Maybe he and the Building Committee swallowed that, but we certainly didn't and we doubt that Joe da Silva of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) will either (he decides what a construction viable project is).

The highlight of the evening was the Public Input part.  Two citizens attended most of the meeting.  One of them blasted the Building Committee for wanting to spend $37-Million on 300 students at a time when nobody can afford it.  She was very eloquent, but it fell on deaf ears as they ignored her and continued down the trail.  The words "tone deaf" come to mind.

They are back to exploring the Peckham Lot as a site for a new school; consequently, they voted to do a site survey to look at water tables, drainage, soil composition, etc.  They also have to look at the legality of building there as the RIDE regulations state that the School District must own the property - and they do not!  We're not sure where that is heading.

But it got into a discussion as to whether to hire and architect or a civil engineer to do the site survey and whether the civil engineer or a lawyer should do a title search.  Mike Harrington, head of the School Committee and a lawyer by trade, had the audacity say that he would trust a lawyer over a civil engineer. With all the lawyer jokes out there, one would have thought that Mr. Harrington would have remained silent on this issue.

Although RGB Architects was mentioned a number of times, the Building Committee appears to have no intention to invite them to speak.  It's business as usual.  RGB is the architectural firm from Providence that developed the independent estimate for renovation last October.

Because of bad advice and poor leadership, the previous architect, JCJ from Connecticut, has caused the Building Committee to miss certain milestones meaning that the run for RIDE funding will not occur until late in the year.  Since the General Assembly must approve the appropriation, the earliest session where this could happen is the January 2011 session. 

The next meeting of the Building Committee is January 20th (Wednesday) at 6:00 PM at the school. The "New School Express" is roaring down the tracks.

Wilbur & McMahon not “Shovel Ready”

eNewsletter - December 19, 2009

December 19th 2009: After last Tuesday night's meeting of the recently formed Little Compton School Building Committee (SBC) with Mr. Joseph da Silva of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), it is crystal clear that after at least three committees and three years of talking it over, there will be no new school project for 2010.

After hundreds of hours and countless meetings, our elected and appointed various school committees and sub committees are no closer to getting RIDE approval than they were in 2007. The problem is threefold: (a) they jumped on the new school band wagon too soon; (b) they had no idea of how to correctly pursue the process; and (c) they have squandered their time figuring out how to get the voters of Little Compton to bite.

Mr. da Silva, who directs the office of funding for school building and refurbishing projects, told the SBC that if they want to seek state funding support in 2010, the application must be on his desk by the middle of February.  This means the SBC must draw up specifications to go out for competitive bidding for an architect; give the winning firm the School District’s concept of a new school; have the architect prepare more detailed conceptual drawings with more refined cost estimates and supporting data virtually overnight; get approval of the School Committee, the Budget Committee, the Town Council, and then last but not least the voters of Little Compton.

This little exercise will cost between 50 and 100 thousand dollars.

Given the track record of the former School Facilities Committee and the present School Building Committee, which took about four meetings just to elect its officers, the people in Hell are going to get ice water before they get their act together.

What the School Department management team, elected and appointed, needs to do is to get busy and start to fix some of the problems that have been plaguing the facilities for years. Stop wasting time and money on dreams of a new “Green” school with a plaque on the wall with all of their names engraved for posterity. In other words, get real!

The problems that need to be fixed have been clearly identified and priced out by two independent architectural engineering firms. The latest estimate done several months ago at the urging of the LCTA sets the price at 10 million dollars. A far cry from the 37 million estimated cost to build a new school. Folks, this is a no brainer!  Fix the school, don’t build a new one.

Refurbishment projects are also eligible for RIDE reimbursement for at least 1/3 of the cost of the project. Do the math. Every third grader at the Wilbur & McMahon can figure this one out.