#MiddletownRI continues to look at regionalizing schools with Newport, the subject of a lengthy discussion Wednesday night between the Town Council and School Committee.
SCHOOL REGIONALIZATION DISCUSSION CONTINUES
MIDDLETOWN, RI (MARCH 4, 2026) – Middletown will continue its fact finding mission about regionalization — for now.
Meeting Wednesday night around the same table in Town Hall, the Town Council and School Committee continued its discussion about whether to merge educational systems with the City of Newport.
No clear answers emerged from the two-and-a-half hour session, with local leaders agreeing to keep the conversation going to get the information and answers they’re looking for to determine whether to put the item before voters on Election Day, Nov. 3.
“We have to let this process evolve and get the information and we’re negligent if we don’t do that at this point,” council President Paul M. Rodrigues said. “We could say ‘No’ now and walk away…and people would say ‘You didn’t gather information. How’d you make that decision?’ That’s not what we do. We’re going to get the information and make a decision.”
Since at least the 1980s, Middletown and Newport have danced with the idea of combining schools in one form or another.
Saving money, diminishing student enrollments and providing an improved education for every student have been cited for looking at the idea in the past.
In November 2022, Middletown voters overwhelmingly approved plans to spend up to $235 million to build three new schools in town at an 80 percent state reimbursement, a new regional school board and combined school administration, among other benefits.
Newport residents rejected the proposal by less than 400 votes, sending the entire plan to its most recent defeat. It was the last time regionalization was put before voters in each community.
Less than three years later, the Newport City Council asked Middletown in August 2025 to take a number of actions surrounding regionalization to restart those discussions. Those included:
- Appointing local representatives to an Academic Integration Advisory Commission (AIAC).
- Participating in a meeting between the Middletown Town Council and Newport City Council to talk about creating an endowment fund to improve educational opportunities with additional state reimbursement money generated from regionalization.
- Holding a regionalization summit between the councils and School Committees from each community with the Rhode Island Department of Education to go over what regionalization could look like for both communities.
The councils from each community have met about regionalization since then, talking about what it might look like and how everyone could benefit. The emphasis from officials in both communities has been on improving student outcomes, not potential savings.
In early February, the Town Council named six members to the AIAC: Justin Buffman, Aimee Caminiti, Virginia Curtis, School Committee Chair Greg Huet, Kasey Kilbride and Town Councilor Barbara VonVillas.
About a week later, the City Council appointed Christopher Bowley, Penelope Hunt, former Middletown Superintendent Rosemarie Kraeger, Michael Niedzwiecki, Brian Rochelle and Whitney Slade as its representatives.
To date, the AIAC has not met formally. That’s because at its Feb. 2 session, Middletown council members said they about 60 questions about regionalization they wanted answered before sitting down with City-By-The-Sea leaders. They also noted it was critical to hear from the Middletown School Committee again.
Up to this point, the reception to regionalization in Middletown has been mixed from the council. While some have said the improvements to education and the money gained were worth it, others have noted Middletown wouldn’t get close to the same financial return on its investment as in November 2022 and they like the direction the school district under Superintendent Billy Niemeyer.
The School Committee’s position has been clear from the beginning of this round. In August 2025, the committee voted to not engage in the regionalization discussion with Newport and prohibited Niemeyer and his staff from doing so as well.
The school board leadership has backed off that position somewhat since, saying they could change course if a number of conditions were met.
Held from the council chambers, the entire School Committee and Town Council were on hand for the meeting. There were also a handful of educators as well as about a dozen local residents along with Newport School Committeewoman Beth Cullen.
Opening the Wednesday night meeting, the school board Chair Huet made it clear little has changed since last summer for his group.
In a 13-page computer slideshow presentation, Huet said there were a number of important unanswered questions about regionalization.
Speaking for the school board, Huet said it was difficult to understand why Middletown was considering any merger based on the data alone. To view the School Committee’s presentation, visit https://www.middletownri.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23085/MSC-Regionalization-Presentation-3426 online.
“No good businessman or businesswoman would ever consider a merger of this character,” Huet said.
In response, Rodrigues and others said they’d like to see the details be flushed out before making any conclusions.
Noting that not too long ago, Middletown’s schools were in rough shape, with a steep deficit. Fortunately, because of hard work by school and town leaders, the deficit has turned around its finances — and entire district.
There was an active discussion on a number of subjects, everything from how the new regional district could work to funding, governance, what happens to existing personnel and more.
One item that sparked significant conversation was how the regional seven-member school board would work. Under the proposed rules, Newport and Middletown would each get three representatives and the seventh would be determined based on popular vote from the two communities.
Several school board members were concerned that Newport would always get the deciding vote as the seventh member because there were more voters in the City-By-The-Sea.
“Some of our children who are elementary students right now, with those families looking forward to this brand new middle high school that we just built might not even go to our own public schools that we’re building and the taxpayers are paying for,” School Committeewoman Theresa Spengler said. “They might end up down at Thompson and Rogers (in Newport) because that’s what the (regional) governing body decides.”
In response, others said the seventh member would hopefully be based on who would best serve both communities.
Town Solicitor Peter Regan said Middletown could ask for “guardrails” to guarantee Middletown students stay in Middletown schools and other items.
“This would be full regionalization,” Regan said. “There’s no midpoint, there’s no hybrid model. It is full regionalization…The control of the overall combined school district would be governed by that regional school committee.”
To see the answers from Brown about regionalization, go to https://www.middletownri.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23086/Town-Administrator-Regionalization-Presentation-3426 online.
A date for the next meeting between Middletown and Newport was not set at the end of the session.
“What happened here tonight was a good display of working together and trying to figure this thing out,” Rodrigues said. “No matter what your perspective on it is, we gather the facts and we’ll make decisions as we go.”
Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-TCSC-3436
About Middletown
The Town of Middletown is a vibrant municipality located on Aquidneck Island, known for its scenic beauty, historic landmarks, diverse economy and strong sense of community. For more information about all we have to offer, visit MiddletownRI.gov online.
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