The Portsmouth School Committee tonight voted to approve contracts with Local 2669 (TA, clerical and custodial), School Administrators, and the assistant superintendent with locked-in CPI-indexed increases and double the employee contributions to health care co-pays. The overall increase proposed was 3.96% with all future raises capped at a maximum of 3.5%.

"Our largest goal was fiscal responsibility and predictability," said School Superintendent Dr. Susan Lusi. And School Finance Director Chris Tague provided a financial impact statement, with detailed breakdowns of the total cost over the three-year lifespan of the contract under various COLA adjustments. The numbers bear out the effectiveness of the negotiations, showing stable or decreasing total costs, even under worst-case scenarios.

Nevertheless, not everyone was happy. PCC, Inc. President Larry Fitzmorris took the podium and began by complimenting the committee and school department for the financial impact statement, calling it "a tremendous improvement." You could hear the "but" coming (and when you hear Larry's "but" coming, you know it) and it materialized in the form of a RI Supreme Court ruling which he said did not permit administrators to join unions, and that therefore, the School Finance Committee's discussions were something "they should not be doing."

School Committee Attorney Richard Updegrove asked for permission to respond, and pointed out that he personally had obtained an adivisory opinion from the RI Attorney General's office several years ago which clearly held that the case was not applicable to this situation, since the Portsmouth Administrators are a group, not a union. "I was the author of that request," Updegrove said to Fitzmorris, "And your organization precipitated the response."

"I don't remember the advisory opinion coming back," said Fitzmorris.

"I do," replied Updegrove. Hmm. I wonder. Did Larry just forget about that? Or did he think that maybe the School Committee would have been incautious enough to vote on a contract without their lawyer present. On the clock, of course. Just another way the PCC is saving YOU, the taxpayer, money, by forcing officials to jump through their hoops.

In tonight's other major piece of business, the School Committee unanimously approved a major update to the Portsmouth Basic Education Program, a document last updated when Ronald Reagan was President, all four Beatles were alive, and the "Internet" was still run by DARPA. "You might wonder about the adequacy of the document for today's world," noted Lusi.

Then Lusi ran through a PowerPoint deck highlighting the critical nature of educational excellence for economic advancement in an increasingly flat world, with trends and statistics on the job market. According to data from the US Department of Labor, of the job areas with anticipated growth, mainly in the health care and tech sector, all but one (home health aide) require a post-high-school education, with the primary academic preparation that entails.

The School Committee unanimously approved the new Basic Education Plan, and I asked for a softcopy, which I'll post. But just wanted to hit some highlights:

• Rigorous academic K-12 curriculum in the areas of English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language and cultures, taught in a way that reflects best practices in the field of education, and honors all state and federal mandates.
• Multiple co-curricular and extra-curricular offerings in the areas of art, music, technical education, health and physical education, athletics, clubs and other areas of the creative and technical arts that honor all state and federal requirements, provide students with the avenues needed to learn the creativity, teamwork and job skills needed for the modern economy
• Appropriate access to up-to-date technology and other instructional materials, including...the personnel necessary to help student avail themselves of these materials and sufficient instructional supplies to fully access the curriculum.
• The support services necessary to serve children in the modern age including but not limited to guidance counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses such that the emotional and physical health and safety of students is maintained.

It's a major achievement, and I compliment the school department and committee for the wisdom and foresight in putting this together. I feel secure knowing that this protects the integrity of our schools from some on the Town Council who have publicly questioned anything above the State BEP.

The other good news from the meeting was that Chair Sylvia Wedge said that she had spoken with Terrence Kavanaugh, father of Samantha, the high school freshman injured on East Main Road, and that her condition had been upgraded, and she was progressing. She still faces multiple surgeries for several broken bones and faces a long road to recovery, but the news was very encouraging.