Newport council trims proposed hires, reduces school increase amid heated debate over regionalization

The Newport City Council on June 11 held a public hearing on the draft FY2026–FY2027 biennial budget and approved the ordinance appropriating revenues on first reading after multiple amendments and extended debate over school funding and possible regionalization with neighboring districts.

The council opened the public hearing and heard more than a dozen speakers, many representing families and the Newport School Committee. Stephanie Winslow, a member of the Newport School Committee, asked the council to approve a 4% local appropriation for the schools, saying a higher local appropriation is crucial to retain staff and meet contractual and operating costs. "We can't pay our teachers without the local appropriation," Winslow said. "State and federal funding comes with a lot of strings and restrictions." Penelope Hunt, a parent and member of the schools' finance working group, said the draft budget already cuts roughly 10% from the district's salary line and that cuts would result in dozens of lost positions and larger class sizes.

Supporters of larger city allocations noted program demand and rising need for counselors, special-education services and food assistance. "We serve a lot of Newport residents — over 6,000," Heather Hall Stroud of the Martin Luther King Community Center told the council during a separate public hearing on CDBG funding. School committee members and parents warned additional cuts would force further layoffs.

Councilors pressed the school department on budget detail during the hearing. Members of the school committee and the public identified individual line items that could be reconfigured (for example, interim professional contracts and administrative positions) and urged the school administration to prioritize restoring direct student services if additional funds become available.

On the council floor, members debated personnel additions included in the manager's proposed budget. Councilor David Carlin moved to remove nine proposed new municipal positions from the FY26 personnel plan, a motion that passed on a recorded vote 4–3. Carlin then proposed reducing the city's local appropriation to the school department from the proposed 4% to 2%; that motion passed 5–2. Carlin told colleagues he would consider restoring funds later if the school department made specific changes to restore frontline positions such as counselors and paraeducators.

The budget debate also featured repeated discussion of a potential regionalization opportunity with Middletown and the state's extra cost share for the Pell/Rogers bond if regionalization conditions are met. Councilors argued about whether to pursue a study or take the state's currently proposed incentives, and whether to delay final budget action pending the state budget outcome. The council voted against delaying the first reading but later set the second reading for the regularly scheduled June meeting.

Mayor Charles M. Holder Jr. and the city manager repeatedly urged the council that some budget items are time‑sensitive and that any change to the appropriation schedule can affect implementation and tax billing schedules. Director of Finance Jim Nolan confirmed the city's first debt service payment on the Pell/Rogers borrowing will appear in FY26 and that the proposed budget includes both interest and principal obligations.

The council approved the appropriation ordinance on first reading as amended and separately approved a revised personnel ordinance to reflect the council's changes to staffing lines; the personnel ordinance will be finalized at second reading. Councilors and staff said the school department and city administration will continue to refine budget detail before the second reading. Several council motions tied restoration of funds to the school department producing specific budget revisions showing restored student-facing positions or otherwise demonstrating how any added funds would return direct services.

The council also voted to separate civic-support allocations from the main appropriation so members could recuse where conflicts exist and to take individual votes on a small group of civic support recipients.

The council did not enact the final tax levy at the meeting; the appropriation vote on first reading sets the intent and will be revisited at second reading after the council reviews technical changes and additional information from the school department and state budget actions.

Ending — Next steps: The council set a second reading for the budget ordinance at the regular June meeting and asked city staff and the school department to return with clarifications requested during the hearing, including a line‑by‑line accounting for particular administrative positions and plans for restoring student-facing staff if funds are allocated.