Is Mr Mudge donating the funding? How kind of him.

Candice dont be snide. Mudge is proposing using all the secret funds. He has talked about those dollars for YEARS and there are MILLIONS available. (As long as NKSD switches from generally accepted accounting practices over to the Mudge accounting system.)

But this does show that "he cares" so WHERE IS THE MUDGE PLAQUE ON THE SPORTS FIELD! Seriously, that reminds me that Bill Mudge was a sports booster and active volunteer for decades. If that nut blow-in Roth needs a plaque, Bill Mudge needs TEN plaques for his TRUE and long standing community efforts. But we still cant afford to just start adding busses though, on that, he is wrong.

Bill, Do you know if this meeting will be open to the public? I am interested in attending if it is....

Erin, he is requesting a meeting, but I doubt if the other school committee people he has alienated so often, will agree, which they would need to for it to happen. Tough times call for tough choices. You want teachers to keep costing $100k (which there is NO NEED for, we could easily staff at lower cost) each then you make sacrifices in other areas.

The problem is that when it comes time for a vote Mudge will start yelling that he does not have enought information (even thou it is his idea) and not vote.

Wondering about the availability of parent advocates to attend such a mtg. Advocates are offered from RIPIN, (RI Parent Info. Network, 270-0101, info@ripin.org) a free service offered to parents of public school children in RI. Perhaps disgruntled parents, esp. those of students from Yorktown Manor, may want an advocate to help represent them from RIDE. The contact info. is above for parents to utilize, and explain their concerns. Advocates may be able to help parents address their transportation safety concerns during citizen's comments, if such a mtg. were to come to fruition. RIPIN advocates are available to accompany and assist parents when they need to attend school meetings.... not sure about a mtg. like this though. However, these advocates know what questions to ask if parents need help when conferencing with teachers, MDT & RTI teams, supt. or anyone else responsible for any aspect of their child's education.

I mapped out the route that one Yorktown child would have to take, both the "back way" through the neighborhood to School Street as well as up Post Road to School St. The shortest route is 1.24 miles along Post Rd. and the alternate route is 1.5 miles to walk. There is a bus stop at Krzak Rd for the trailer park CLOSER to the school on Post Rd. and Crossroads/Heritage Apts. also are closer than the students who live at the top of Yorktown Manor. Shame on the School Committee for cutting buses to kids who live in this neighborhood. I"m SURE they would have wanted their 12 yr old daughter walking along Post Rd in the winter, when the sidewalks are covered with ice and snow. Are they going to have the town enforce shoveling the sidewalks along Post Rd.? I'm sure there is an ordinance for that. I bet they could even increase some revenue for the town by enforcing such a thing. Has the School Committee considered HOW at risk children will be walking this strip of a four lane highway? Who can monitor the sidewalks and watch for "stranger danger" situations that are more likely to develop on such a roadway? I cannot imagine the School Committee cutting buses to a more affluent neighborhood. I applaud Mr. Mudge for taking action BEFORE the lawsuits start. If it were MY child walking that route, you better bet that I'd be looking into suing the town.

Mudge, there is open house at some of the elementary schools on Weds...not a great night to rally parents...btw...

I lQQk into my ball and what do I see? Jim McGwin (412) trying to get Bill to continue to waste taxpayers money and find issues that don't exist.

I believe the school committee also has a lapse of memory, as of last school year at least two sex offenders lived on Post Road, oops........

Exactly why a RIDE advocate may be beneficial in helping Yorktown Manor parents when/if they meet with administration.

@We are NK it is so easy to check, so why do you insist on spreading old, irrelevant info. See this link: http://www.paroleboard.ri.gov/sexoffender/olist/search.php
only 2 sex offenders in NK with one on post road. 7255 Post road, south of route 403.

I fail to understand how this is NOT an issue. You know what? Why don't YOU walk to school in the snow a mile and 1/2. AND that particular sex offender is often walking NORTH of 403 up and down Route 1. Erin, you are right! What are the guidelines for making a neighborhood a walker neighborhood? Is there a set distance from the schools to determine the walker status? I think they should make the kids in Wickford walk to school from a mile and 1/2 away. Davisville needs more representation in town politics.

To those who criticize my free speech, if the idiots promoting a Roth plaque on public property had not raised the issue, then we would not b e talking about it. I am not who NK Parent (Jim McGwin) says I am. Roth may have been a "good family man" and I am sure his survivors have been hurt by losing him. But the memorial on public property IS a current issue and worthy of HONEST discussion about the merit of memorializing someone with a track record. My position is he doesnt deserve a public memorial. There are many others who do. As to his life outside of politics, he has several memorials, they are a wife, two children and a headstone just like the rest of us will have. No one has dishonored Roths personal life and no one will. His PUBLIC life is as I said a current topic due to the discussion regarding a memorial on PUBLIC property in my town yes I live in NK as well. Death is a reality for us all, usually sooner than we want. I am not the least bit sorry for challenging the memorial on PUBLIC property on the basis of a track record that is better left buried. That's why they call this a debate. Hopefully this should grow some of you people up! ;)

I would not want my child walking 1.5 miles to school. And I will now use Google Earth to map out my own childhood route...

OK in elementary I walked .6 mi that was my longest walk of all grades and schools. Everybody do the same in Google Earth use the ruler/path choice at the top, and be HONEST post your longest childhood walk!

I grew up in the house I live in. I went to these schools. I NEVER had to (and neither do my children have to) walk the distance these children are being required to walk. My outrage, now, is that my friend's daughter is being put at risk because this town cannot manage their way out of a paper bag. Who makes kids walk that far? Elementary students DO NOT walk that far. Kids in Wickford do not walk that far. Juniper Hill is much closer to Wickford Middle School than the Yorktown neighborhood is to Davisville Middle. Juniper Hill has a bus stop. Intrepid Drive...same thing. Yorktown residents are renters. They are lower income, but not sheltered by the gov't. an the infrastructure/advocacy groups that would be afforded to them. Why not make an affluent neighborhood's kids walk to school a mile OR more? The other side effect of having cut the buses is that now my kids have to fight to get a seat on their bus. It is now, full to capacity...3 to a seat... I'm not for 1/2 full buses, but a jam packed bus full of middle school kids can lead to nothing but trouble. Antics, you cannot possibly consider walking along Post Road a safe journey for an 11-14 yr. old?? Open your eyes this winter and see how the sidewalks are not shoveled. LOOK and see the bus stops and how people have to put themselves at risk, as well as the drivers of cars, by either standing in the roadway or clamoring up on a giant ice mound. Post Road is not managed well and it is not a safe route for a child.

Out of curiosity, I checked to see how far a Wickford Middle School kid would have to walk to match how far the Yorktown kids are walking. They would have to walk from West Allenton Rd. to Wickford Middle School to match the "via School Street" route. Yeah...I can just see that happening. Someone needs to fix this. If it is Mudge...more power to him. I don't care about any of the politics people like to play in on this forum and or at School Committee meetings. Wrong is wrong. Fix it.

"Wrong is wrong. Fix it."

exactly!

It seems like all Mr. Mudge does is try to thwart any effort to reduce expenses. He's opposed to the outsourcing of the custodians. He's opposed to the reduction of school buses. And it seems like he spends the majority of his time in meetings dragging up garbage from the past, or talking about imaginary funds that aren't there. If his objective is to be obstructive he's doing a good job of that. With a board member like that, it's hard to understand how anything gets accomplished.

Excellent point, Trish....no one would ask a kid to walk from Hamilton-allenton to WMS....Kids on Annaquatucket/Prospect/Lantern Lane have to walk to WMS, but they can do that off of busy route 1.
There is nothing wrong with kids having to walk-safely-to school. With tight budgets things are cut. In order to restore bus transportation in this situation, students may have to spend a little extra time on the bus-if a bus cant be afforded back into the budget. I would rather my child spend an extra 10 minutes on the bus than walk over a mile on an unsafe road. EVERYONE needs to give a little.......and there you have the problem! sadly.....

Bill Mudge - what is the current status of this meeting? Date? time? place? public?

NKGOP Watch - I asked MUDGE, not you and your self - important attitude. An apology is in order to the Roth family if you wish to restore any amount of my respect.

@NKGOP Watch, you talk out of both sides of your mouth. You have stated you feel he "was not evil" yet you call him a liar, a nut, insane and the worst thing to happen to NK. You defend your hate-filled tirade as free speech, yet you criticize the late Mr. Roth for exercising his "free speech" when he called your pal Avanzato "dangerous and reckless".
You feel it is fine for you to severely criticize, but if someone else does it to a "friend" of yours, they are wrong.
You use these highly critical and inflammatory words and decry them as fact.

Avanzato generally kept controlled, worked well with others and did what she promised when she got in office. Roth campaigned against Halley to get elected, but even after Halley literally attempted to abuse Avanzato's son who was sick to get at her, Roth wrote Halley a recommendation letter. Do you REALLY think there is any comparison between the two? No memorial on public property. These people should start a Roth scholarship fund instead. In Kansas in fact.