Newport, RI: 3/25/20 – Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Citizens Exploring School Unification (CESU) has elected to cease all in-person petition signing and will now do so electronically and in the mail.  

“We’ve been gratified by the outpouring of interest and support in our efforts to have the Middletown Town Council study the advantages and disadvantages of regionalization of our schools with Newport,” said Dick Adams, President of CESU. “To date, nearly 700 petitions (60% of the requirement) have been signed and are ready to be presented to the Middletown Town Clerk for certification.  Unfortunately, we now need to pursue an alternative means of having the required additional 478 voters sign the petition by May 1st. Therefore, we will be offering the petition electronically on our website - giving Middletown registered voters the ability to download, print, sign, and mail-in this petition. Time is of the essence.” “Keep in mind the petition only asks that the pros and cons of school unification be studied. It does not approve regionalization,” emphasized Adams.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Download/print the petition from http://CESU.NEWS 

2. Once downloaded – the petition requires you to PRINT YOUR NAME, sign and date this form, including your local address as a Middletown Rhode Island registered voter.

3. After completing Step 2 - please have a WITNESS SIGN this petition where indicated on the form.

4. Mail the signed petition to 25 Olives Way Middletown, RI 02842 Attn: CESU Campaign Manager.

If you need additional assistance or have further questions call or contact CESU board members Ron at (401) 339-2839 or Greg at (540) 446-6045. Please follow us on Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/cesunews/and sign up to receive our eNewsletter on our website 

Educational Benefits of Larger Schools

• More diverse courses than smaller schools, including AP and STEM opportunities unavailable in smaller schools.
• Provide students with course plans tailored to their strengths in certain subjects
• Allow students to more adequately prepare for college-level courses. 
• Allow the student to explore more specified courses to give them a better idea of what they will major in while attending college. 

Social Benefits of Larger Schools 

• Allow students to interact with a much larger and diverse pool of students. 
• Enable students to gain new perspectives on different groups of individuals they may have not been previously exposed to. 
• Grant students the opportunity to more easily integrate socially due to a large number of students to befriend. 
• Provide students with more and different extracurricular activities and clubs to strengthen connections. 

Using Regionalization as a Future Investment 

• Constructing a new and cutting-edge regional high school would allow students to properly prepare for college and the workforce.  
• In the near future, these students will become a highly skilled and educated group of young adults within the two communities that will bring several economic improvements to Middletown and Newport in the future.  
• Some economic benefits include a larger and more diverse workforce that can be taxed, resulting in a lower tax rate for all property owners.

Other Local Economic Benefits

• Both communities would also see an increase in businesses started and investments made within their cities, which would also contribute to tax revenue.  
• This newfound flow of taxable individuals and businesses can subsequently be allocated to other areas of much-needed improvements, such as infrastructure or public safety, causing the investment in the regional high school to come full circle.