06/01/2023
Dear South Kingstown Community Members,
On Tuesday, June 6th, the voters of South Kingstown will go to the polls and vote on the School Department's budget. The question voters will have to address is whether to approve the Town Council's appropriation of $55,994,773 for the School Fund or to approve a petition to reduce $1,500,000 to $54,494,773 for the School Fund.
The referendum will reduce household taxes between twenty-two and twenty-three cents. What's the collective value of twenty-two or twenty-three cents? It is 22 employees, all of HS and MS fall sports, reshaping the CTE Construction and the music and theater programs by offering fewer options to students and slowing the pace of implementing our technology 1:1 initiative. The actual worth of these programs is priceless because the impact of athletics and the arts on enriching a student's life is limitless. However, if we do not have programs like these, the impact and the opportunity to enhance a student's life are negated.
The complex nature of education is because it is a human endeavor. Teaching and learning are human-driven social experiences. Thus the majority of a School Department's budget is people. A student doesn't learn calculus through osmosis nor develop an understanding of impressionist art forms without instruction. A first grader only learns to read with a caring and skilled teacher, demystifying print, sound, and their relationship. It takes a teacher to lead students through a learning journey.
Things are not always what they appear. For example, reducing the School Department's budget may champion a particular fiscal or political view. But what are the second-tier consequences? If the budget is reduced, then what? Would reducing these programs increase or decrease the number of families leaving the district? The authors of the referendum recently claimed that they are reducing the School Department's budget because students of color are not achieving, and later that Indigenous students are suspended at a higher rate than their white peers. How will reducing SKSD's budget improve student outcomes or lower suspension rates?
A tendency exists to reach for low-hanging outcomes that are easy to grab hold of. Unfortunately, history has shown that only considering low-hanging solutions may create unintended harm. As a result, many other outcomes that may be out of reach but just as important are overlooked, like the referendum's potential impact on enrollment.
Furthermore, the referendum's author's vision for schooling differs from many in the community. Karl Weick, an organizational theorist, calls community vision or shared values "The glue that holds loosely coupled systems together..." Community values bond citizens together for common causes like education. For the community, values are a common purpose. So, if you limit this election to a dim view of taxes, then you choose to limit the value of the community. But if you see the vote on the School Department's budget as voting for your core beliefs, then the future of SK will be brighter. You get the School Department you support. So, please get informed by visiting the School Department's website's "Referendum Information" by clicking here. Finally, on Tuesday, June 6th, vote for your core values.
Sincerely,
Mark Prince
Superintendent of Schools
South Kingstown School District is a proud Professional Learning Community built upon collaborative leadership and 21st-century deep learning competencies while developing a culture of equity, openness, and sharing of ideas. Working together, South Kingstown School District provides the foundation f...
