Newport

With Unity, a town abutting Newport, forced by the State Department of Education to close its school last week, the Newport School Board has offered to assimilate the ousted students into the Newport system. The addition of students would put a strain on the Newport system in several ways, but the Board felt the difficulties were a better option than the students not having an education venue available at the start of the school year.

According to SAU 43 Director of Education, Virginia O’Brien Irwin, the Unity board contacted Newport for a proposal to take their 117 students into the halls of Richards Elementary and Towle School.

The Newport board has offered to take the students into the system at their full tuition rate. Annually it would cost Unity $11,289 per elementary student and $11,838 per middle school student. With 117 students to pay for, the bill would exceed $1.2 million.

The board of SAU 43 voted 7-1 to hire Michael Marcinkus as Superintendent last week. Marcinkus, originally from Massachusetts, is serving as Superintendent in Lincoln, Maine where he performed double-duty as financial administrator. He will begin his duties for the Newport and Croydon school districts on July 1 at a salary of $101,000.

An active community member in his former positions, at an open public forum before his hire Marcinkus stated that the relationship between the community and the schools must be fostered for success and that keeping an open line of communication between students, teachers, administrators and taxpayers is the cornerstone of a successful district.

Beginning his working career as a teacher and as a financial manager in the private sector, Marcinkus brings a rich and varied background to Newport. He has stated that he enjoys mingling with students and arriving unexpectedly at district schools to “get a feel.” He likes to see the workings and interactions of students and staff unannounced and get a better view of the workings of a system before suggesting improvements or changes.

If you were looking for a quiet date while watching a few dance routines, Newport’s Dancing With the Newport Stars was not the place to go. The atmosphere was electric with family, friends and observers of the contestants packing the Newport Opera House to capacity. Rumor has it that the bar at the affair did a box office business in itself, which I’m sure lent to the relaxed but enthusiastic ambiance.

My husband and I were treated to our date-night by contestant Dave Lantz, owner of MJ Harrington & Co. Jewelers, who was the first Newport “star” to hit the stage with his dance partner, elementary teacher Elaine Heineman – the “pro.” Starting right into the show without much ado after a brief introduction of all the dancing duos, MC Steve Smith of WCNL radio introduced a short video clip of Dave and Elaine during their practice sessions.

Newport town manager Dan O’Neill and Public Works Director Larry Wiggins will be presenting some big ticket items to the selectmen to be considered for this year’s budget at Monday’s budget review meeting.

O’Neill is facing a $1.5 million hike above last year’s budget, and Director of Public Works Larry Wiggins will be presenting an expensive upgrade for the wastewater treatment plant to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s current permit limits for phosphorous.

“I have a huge obstacle,” said O’Neill. “This year’s default budget is $500,000 over last year’s actual budget. And the budget I’ve received from town department heads puts me about $1.5 million above last year’s budget. So I have some serious work to do to get to a level that won’t be a huge impact.”

O’Neill said his dilemma may include renegotiating with Public Works and the Police Union, and making other concessions. Salaries and layoffs are at stake.

Dancing with the stars. A new dance fever. Television entered a whole new era with reality-based shows, and the response has been amazing. But what’s wrong with the real deal? Wouldn’t it be a whole lot more fun to go watch dancing stars on stage? You can do just that in Newport on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. or Sunday, Jan. 31 at 3:00 p.m. at the Newport Opera House on Main Street in Newport.

In a fundraiser that will benefit the United Way of Sullivan County and the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the dancers at the “new” Newport Ballroom, a feature event dubbed “Dancing With the Newport Stars” will feature amateur and neophyte dancers from all over town dancing with the “pros” who are regulars at the ballroom.

With hours and hours of practice under his belt, Dave Lantz, owner of MJ Harrington & Company jewelers is ready to get the show on the road. Squeezing an hour or so of practice into his morning routine several times a week, he has been meeting his “pro” partner, Elaine Heineman, a Grade 4 teacher at Richards Elementary School at the ballroom, which is on the third floor of the building housing his jewelry store.

Superintendent Dr. Marilyn Brannigan reconsidered her decision to urge the Newport School Board to incorporate funding for all day kindergarten into the budget for fiscal year 2010-11. At Thursday’ meeting, Dr. Brannigan introduced a warrant article proposal giving voters the thumbs up or down for all day kindergarten, approved by legal counsel, to address the “flack” from the public at the budget hearing a week ago.

Defending the all day kindergarten program by saying, “I believe it will save the district money and time and it will give the children a better start,” while introducing the warrant article proposal that asks the voters of Newport whether or not they want to support an all day kindergarten program, Brannigan attempted to placate both sides of the issue.

Chairman of the Board, Robert Collins, who voted last week to keep a similar warrant article in place by voting against the amendment introduced by Brannigan to place funding of the program in the budget and delete the article, was in favor of the new proposal saying, “I know that I am happy to see this.”

Unlike audits performed in the past decade, the Newport School District financial report contained very few criticisms, although two topics hit the “Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs” page. The improved audit findings were welcomed by the Board, as many deficiencies have been logged in the past and the audit procedure has been a lengthy process, sometimes stretching well into the summer months.

Introduced to the school board by SAU 43 Business Manager Jim Vezina and a representative from Roberts, Greene & Drolet, PLLC of Barnstead, who performed the audit, the financial report raised two red flags.

The first criticism was that staff and students are not paying for lunch. Extending credit to those wishing to eat lunch but not holding enough funds in their prepay accounts, the food services department has allowed a substantial amount of debt owed to accrue. According to the financial report, “the School District is losing revenue when meals are served to individuals who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and yet, the School district is not paid for these meals.”

Following an interim term as SAU 43 Superintendent, Dr. Marilyn Brannigan announced her decision to leave the position just as she initially arranged when taking the temporary post more than a year ago, initiating a superintendent search for SAU 43 which includes the Newport and Croydon schools.

Newport School Board members Richard Jacobs and John LaRock are heading the search committee. Requests for resumes were advertised, and several had been received prior to the board meeting on Jan. 14. The deadline for submitting resumes was Jan. 15.

A committee had been formed by the board, including several public member who were invited to participate. Although several invitees had not responded, Jacobs said the committee membership had been finalized and he offered an apology to any member of the public who had wished to participate but had been cut from the roster, asking that they investigate other volunteer opportunities available through the board.

The inclusion of all day kindergarten in the Newport school budget hit a sour note for some of the voting public last week.

Until a few hours before the scheduled budget hearing, the issue of all day kindergarten had been included in a separate warrant article to settle the issue according to public desire. But at the meeting, funding for the program was included in the $17,129,228 budget and deleted from a warrant article draft that had been distributed earlier by the school board. Should the budget fail when presented to the voters, the default budget of $17,063,932 will be adopted through S.B. 2 rulings.

At the hearing hosted by the School Board, Business Administrator Jim Vezina presented a brief overview of changes to the budget over last year’s figure by saying “the budget number is identical to last year’s budget number…last year was $17,124,000. We boosted food service up $100,000 and federal projects $100,000 that is offset directly by revenues.”

Chairman of the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC), Dwight LaFountain, asked what the difference was in the budget last submitted to the BAC after briefly reviewing the handouts.

In a 3 to 2 vote last Thursday, the Newport School Board approved seven articles on the warrant for voters to decide on March 9, 2010, with members John LaRock, Richard Jacobs and Michael Johnson voting in favor and Robert Collins and Jason Avery voting against the adoption of the proposal.

Two three-year-term School Board seats are open this year, as both Mike Johnson and John LaRock’s term expire. Any person interested in running for either seat must file at the SAU 43 office after January 20 and before Jan. 29 at 5:00 p.m. The filing fee is one dollar. A moderator, clerk and treasurer will also be elected to one year terms.

Article 3 of the warrant is an appeal for approval of the annual budget for the school year 2010-11. The $17,129,228 budget represents $5,032,235 in regular educational programs, $3,514,027 in special programs, $653,548 in vocational programs and $258,869 in “other” programs, with these figures covering teacher salary contracts and benefits.