Portsmouth school committee chair Cynthia Perrotti announced at last night's meeting that she is resigning, effective May 15, according to a summary posted on the school department web site:

In a very thoughtful and heartfelt speech, Mrs. Perrotti shared with her fellow School Committee members and members of the community her intentions to resign from the School Committee effective May 15, 2012, for personal reasons. In her remarks, she expressed her appreciation to School Committee members, administrators, staff, and the community for their work and support. Mrs. Perrotti thanked the community for electing her to the School Committee as well as thanked members of the School Committee for electing her to serve as School Committee Chair. Mrs. Perrotti received a standing ovation by the audience.

Perrotti was appointed to the Portsmouth School Committee in May, 2009 by the previous Town Council (at a meeting during which no public comment was permitted) to fill a seat left vacant by the resignation of Jamie Heaney (R). She ran for school committee in 2010, and was the top vote-getter. Perrotti was elected as Chair by the members of the school committee on Nov. 23, 2010, despite the Democrats holding a 4-3 majority.

Full disclosure: I was a Democratic candidate in the 2010 school committee election.

Portsmouth school committee vice-chair Jon Harris (l), Tom Vadney, Chair Cynthia Perrotti (r).

About half the 20 or so attendees at last night's organizational meeting of the school committee were PCC regulars who watched as Cynthia Perrotti was voted in as chair, Jonathan Harris vice-chair, and Marilyn King as clerk. New members Dave Croston and Tom Vadney also joined the committee for its first official session.

It was odd to see so many members of the Town Council. I could understand the presence of Democrat Mike Buddemeyer, who just made the jump from the school committee to the Council, but why were three of the PCC-affiliated Town Councilors — Joe Robicheau, Paul Kesson, and Liz Pedro — at the meeting?

The organizational part of the meeting began in standard fashion. Newly elected member Dave Croston nominated former chair and ranking member of the Democratic majority, Sylvia Wedge for the Chair. Sylvia declined, and in turn nominated Croston.

Then, crickets.

Yes, that's right. Fellow Democrats Marilyn King and Angela Volpicelli did not even second the nomination. It became clear, at that moment, just how things were going.

Cynthia Perrotti was elected chair on a 5-2 vote (Wedge and Croston), with Harris elected vice-chair 7-0, and King by a 6-1 margin, with Croston in the minority.

Oh, but it gets better.

King wanted to make a statement. "I want to take a moment to explain why I voted as I did. The recent election told me who the citizens want," she said, and she felt the best leader was Perrotti. In addition, King said, someone had approached her suggesting a vote for a different committee member, and she felt, in her words, "Intimidated, threatened, or bullied."

Volpicelli chimed in. "I was also approached," she said. "Everyone has the right to vote for who they want without being pressured."

King and Volpicelli have spent two years on the school committee, listening to what could only be characterized as strenuous input from a range of community members on highly contentious issues, and they're complaining about someone suggesting who they might vote for as chair? Intimidated? Really?

Just an observation: King may say she got the message from the voters, but perhaps she also heard a little something at Republican headquarters on election night. Just sayin'.

Perrotti delivered her first Chair's report, promising that, "My focus is going to be on academics, and challenging all students to perform." While she supported the Basic Education Plan (BEP), she was "disturbed" by the recent RI Dept. of Education (RIDE) proposal for a multi-tiered diploma system, and stressed the importance of "continuous improvement" and that student achievment "must be the primary reference point for all decision making."

"There is much to be done to provide quality education within budgetary constraints," she continued. "We need to explore moving from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution." She singled out the technology warrant for scrutiny. "We need to move textbooks from warrants to the operating budget." And she said that the strategic plan, created by a team of nearly 100 residents and students, should be revised.

There were a few business items on the agenda. Dr. Lusi, in the superintendent's report, announced that the Portsmouth Middle School had received a $42K grant from the Champlin Foundation for a music-computer lab, which should be up and running by January.

The committee formally voted on Jonathan Harris's proposed "joint health care commission," a collaborative effort with the Town Council to examine health care costs, including, Harris noted, participation in the state pool. Committee member Tom Vadney stated for the record that the meetings will be covered under the state's Open Meetings act.

The final agenda item was the October student enrollment report, and Dr. Lusi noted that at 2,773, it came in exactly as the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) projected, albeit not exactly matching within each grade level.

Perrotti used the agenda item as a jumping off point, and made the point that student population had declined by 8.6% over the past five years. She offered a chart, which she held up for the TV camera, showing what appeared to be a dramatic drop.

I raised my hand. "Could you please describe the Y axis of that chart?"

"It goes from 3,000 to 2,000," said Perrotti.

"So it does not go to zero?" I asked.

"No."

Let me explain why that is significant. When you show a set of data points on a chart which does not have a zero base, the apparent magnitude of the upward or downward tilt of lines is exaggerated. If you draw a chart starting showing a decline of about 250 students on an intial population of 3,000, you get very different slopes depending on the scale of your Y axis. Compare the two images below.

click image to embiggen

Even the chart on the left doesn't look look quite like the one Perrotti showed; I've sent her a note asking for a copy pursuant to RI General Law (RIGL) 38-1-1.1.

Earlier in the meeting, one of the first official acts of the incoming school committee was to adopt the "Code of Basic Management Principles and Ethical School Standards," which is codified in RIGL 16-2-9.1. Subsection (a)(5) of that law states that members of the committee shall, "Make public relevant institutional information in order to promote communication and understanding between the school system and the community."

Presenting a chart which — however unintentionally — exaggerates the decline in student population, in my opinion, fails to meet the test of promoting understanding. I would recommend to Ms. Perrotti the work of information designer Edward Tufte, whose books offer very clear guidance on visually accurate representations of data.

Disclaimer: In this recent election, I was a candidate for Portsmouth School Committee.

Update: School Committee Chair Cynthia Perrotti sent the following chart in response to my request.

click image to view as a PDF.

I think the exaggerated slope of this chart compared to one drawn with a zero base speaks for itself. Using 2,750 as the origin for the Y axis defies logical explanation.

On Monday night, the Portsmouth Town Council made an appointment to the school committee without public comment or Council discussion, a process that the Newport Daily News called "alarming." Watch for yourself. From the time Tailgunner Gleason makes her motion (and I stand by my original reporting; she did not even allow McIntyre to finish the agenda item) to the vote, the total elapsed time is 15 seconds.

Did you see that? McIntyre first says "Any discussion...on the motion." At that point, 56 seconds in, former Councilor Len Katzman can be seen heading toward the podium. Suddenly, McIntyre says what sounds like "Thoughts? [oops?] Pass the motion. All in favor of the motion." The vote happens in 4 seconds.

Does this sound like "a mistake?" McIntyre clearly calls for discussion, and then almost immediately cuts it off.

The rest of the clip — another nine minutes — is included lest anyone accuse me of picking and choosing. But watch until the end for the kicker.

McIntyre has the last word, and again, I stand by my report of his quote, which is also the way the Sakonnet Times reported it. Note the conditional: "If I made a mistake here tonight, I apologize."

I repeat: Bullshit.

Update: After listening to this thing dozens of times, I still can't tell what McIntyre says, whether it's "woops" or "let's." Either way, he is clearly heard calling for the motion to be passed without any public discussion.

There's just no good way to spin this. The President of the Portsmouth Town Council said in a public meeting that e-mails and letters make public discussion of the appointment of an elected official unnecessary. "I think I can look out into the audience can see the same people that sent me the e-mails."

I think Jefferson said that once.

In a party-line vote during which the Portsmouth Town Council took no public comment — or discussion from council members — resident Cynthia Perrotti was appointed to fill the vacancy on the School Committee. There is no polite way to say this: the process was rushed. Before Council President Peter McIntyre had even finished announcing the agenda item, Tailgunner Gleason cut in.

"First, I want to take politics right out of this appointment," she said, then made a motion to appoint Perrotti. The item was moved without discussion — without even allowing Gleason to finish reading a statement explaining her position — and the vote was 4-2, with Democrats Dennis Canario and Jim Seveney voting no (and Huck Little absent.)

There were 25 people in attendance and one, former Councilor Len Katzman got up to the podium to protest the process.

"I said we're not taking any input," said McIntyre. "I see the same people that sent me e-mails and phone calls." But he did allow members of the Council to explain their votes.

"The past practice has been to have discussion and recognition," said Jim Seveney, who thanked other applicants Terri Cortvriend, William Douglas, Allen Shers, and Mike Wrobleski. "That there was no discussion is curious," he said, complaining that the Council had been "Herded into a quick vote."

"I beg to differ that we rushed into this decision," retorted Gleason. (Uh, Tailgunner, watch the tape.)

Former Council President Dennis Canario was clearly upset. "For as long as i've been on this council, we've always had discussion before taking a vote. This is the first I've ever seen as long as I've been involved in town government. I'm shocked and disappointed."

"I'll finish my paragraph," said Gleason. (Uh, explain again how the decision wasn't rushed?) "For the benefit of the audience. Like myself she's unaffiliated with a political party," said Gleason. "We get too wrapped up in the political process."

Councilor Keith Hamilton said he had "voted due to her background" and because she is a "parent at Elmhurst."

Fellow first-term Councilor Jeff Plumb noted "Keith and I are new to the council" and said he "wanted a new face on the school committee" with a "fresh perspective, not some of the old guard."

McIntyre echoed that sentiment. "I voted for a new set of eyes, new face, new ideas." Seeming to recognize the dissatisfaction with the process from his fellow councilors and the citizens in the room, he added, "If I made a mistake here tonight I apologize but that's the way I would have voted anyway."

After the vote, Perrotti said, "I'm thrilled to serve the town of Portsmouth." She noted that while one of her résumé items may be a career in the Air Force, "Most important, I'm a mom of a kindergartener, and hope to have a long association with the Portsmouth schools."

I'm truly sorry that Ms. Perrotti ends up at the end of this story rather than the top. She brings truly outstanding qualifications and our schools will be better for her contributions. I'm sure that I speak for all of Portsmouth in wishing her all the best.

That said, tonight's process was a travesty. Hamilton and Plumb can at least be be excused for responding when a vote was called; they're new. But it strains credulity to believe that President McIntyre, with his long history on the Council, simply "made a mistake." I sat through two years of Council meetings when the Democrats held four seats, and they gave everyone a chance to be heard, even on issues where one could reasonably infer a party-line vote might be expected.

There is nothing wrong with making a motion and pushing it forward because you know you have the votes. That's the political process. But to freeze out not only public comment, but also discussion among the Council, well, I find that antithetical to the idea of democracy.

We elected seven members of the Council, not four, and I think we have a right to hear from all of them before a vote on an important issue.

The best line of the Animal House clip above, edited out in the YouTube version, is the response of Delta Tau Chi to the machinations of Dean Wormer's star chamber. "Bullshit," coughs Belushi.

Bullshit.

In other news, Rep. Jay Edwards delivered an update on the Escape Bridge. The good news, he said, was that the deteriorating condition had forced RIDOT to advance their schedule. "they were going to put on back burner until 2012," said Edwards. Now, he said, the plan is to complete design work this summer, go out to bid in the Fall, and start work next Spring. "That's pretty darned fast for a bridge," he said. Edwards also gave the Council an advance heads-up on the two approaches being considered: to close the entire span (which would be quicker and possibly cheaper) or to work around traffic.