David Croston submits signatures to Town Clerk Kathy Viera-Beaudoin as Terri Cortvriend and Nancy Zitka look on.

At 8:40 this morning, David Croston and a contingent of volunteers from Save Our Schools (SOS) submitted nearly 100 sheets containing 2,039 names, according to a count from the Portsmouth Town Clerk's office. It took the staff about 45 minutes to timestamp, photocopy, and tally the sheets, after which they walked them across the hall to Town Canvasser Madeleine Pencak where the process of verifying names would begin.

"This is the first step in supporting and investing in the education system which many of us moved to Portsmouth to experience," said Croston, who added that SOS would now reach out to the whole community to share facts and success stories about the schools. "Voters will see by [the date of the referendum] that we have one of the most efficient systems in Rhode Island, one we can be proud of."

Pencak was not able to estimate how long the verification process might take — according to the Town Charter, they have a maximum of two weeks. From there, she said, assuming sufficient signatures, the Town Clerk would call the special election.

Personal note: Given that the special election could happen as soon as 30 days after verification, if you're not registered to vote yet, please get on down to Town Hall this week. (Hey, you were going to do that anyway, since the cutoff to vote in the September primary is Saturday, right?)