The Portsmouth School Committee met Tuesday and set the start of the 2026–27 school year, reported updated elementary enrollment counts, and confirmed meal prices — while committee members pressed the administration on an athletic trainer vacancy weeks before fall sports begin.
The most immediate change for families: the first day of school has been restructured. Superintendent Viveros said teachers and staff return Wednesday, August 26th for orientation. Students in kindergarten through grade nine start Thursday, August 27th. All students report Friday, August 28th, the first full day of the 2026–27 year.
That is a departure from past practice, when the staggered opening day was limited to kindergarten, fifth grade and ninth grade. Viveros said elementary teachers and principals told the district it helped to have additional grades present alongside kindergartners and fifth graders, while the high school preferred giving ninth graders a day to cycle through their full schedule. Viveros initially described the August 27th group as kindergarten through grade five, was corrected by a committee member, and confirmed the correct span is kindergarten through grade nine.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIFamilies were also reminded there will be no school September 7th, 8th and 9th, covering Labor Day and the primary election, which falls on a Wednesday. The committee said the calendar was adjusted to give families a longer weekend.
Meal prices set; free and reduced meals fully covered
Viveros said elementary breakfast will cost $1.40 and lunch $3.50 in the coming year. At the middle school, breakfast will be $1.55 and lunch $3.30.
Families who qualify for free or reduced-price meals will not be charged for either breakfast or lunch during the 2026–27 school year. Viveros urged families who think they may qualify to complete the confidential online application at myschoolapps.com, with information also posted on the district website. District Operations Manager Rachel Marciano was identified as the staff contact for families who need individual help with the application.
A committee member asked that the free-meal application reminder go out through school principals as well as district communications, arguing families are more likely to open messages from their own school. Viveros agreed, saying the notice would go out from her office, from principals, and on paper.
Third and fourth grade enrollment: no new classroom, for now
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Heath, who joined the central office in July, presented an update on the grade levels the district considers tightest for the fall.
Third-grade enrollment has risen from 166 students in May to 168 now, spread across seven sections at Hathaway Elementary School and Melville Elementary School. That still averages 24 students per class, just under the 25-student cap set in the teachers' contract. Dr. Heath said the district has a buffer of seven seats before hitting the cap, or 14 if it uses a contract provision allowing one extra student per section.
Fourth grade stands at 148 students across seven sections, or just above 21 per class. Hathaway is planned for four third-grade and four fourth-grade classrooms, with 98 third graders and 95 fourth graders projected. Melville is slated for three classrooms at each grade. Dr. Heath said enrollment in most grades has actually fallen since the May report, with many withdrawals attributed to military reassignment orders.
If a section reaches the cap, the district's stated plan is to look across both schools for placement. If enrollment is set to meet or exceed 26 per class, an additional third-grade section would open at Melville, and all new third-grade enrollees would be assigned there. The district would also invite third-grade families who live in the Melville attendance area but attend Hathaway to return voluntarily — a step Dr. Heath emphasized would not be compulsory.
Asked why grade eight appears to carry the highest average class size, the administration said the middle school has more sections available in the upper grades because instruction is content-specific: eight sections in grade seven and ten in grade eight, compared with six each in grades five and six. Dr. Heath said a fuller enrollment report covering all grade levels will come to the committee's September 1st meeting.
Athletic trainer vacancy questioned
Viveros reported six resignations since the end of the school year, one retirement, eight new hires and six pending appointments expected to be finalized within a week. That leaves one open teaching position, a preschool teacher at Melville, posted on SchoolSpring.
A committee member raised concern about the resignation of the district's athletic trainer with fall sports approaching, noting it had been a three-year contract, and asked whether hiring was being fast-tracked. Administrators said work on the position is underway. Pressed on whether a trainer must be present at practices, the response was that the trainer is typically present at games. The committee member noted that students begin before then. The transcript does not indicate a timeline for filling the job.
The district has appointed 13 coaching positions across five fall high school programs and filled middle school cross country and soccer head-coaching roles. Two coaching jobs remain open — assistant boys' JV soccer at the high school and assistant girls' soccer at the middle school — both posted on SchoolSpring. Five more coaching assignments await final paperwork.
Kathy Damon, a front-office clerk at the high school, is retiring effective September 25th.
Votes taken
The committee approved its consent agenda by voice vote, with no opposition recorded. A consent agenda groups routine items into a single vote. Before the vote, a member asked about home-school instruction applications, noting families must reapply annually, and asked the district to distinguish between returning home-school families, families new to town, and Portsmouth families newly choosing to homeschool. The administration said it would provide that breakdown.
Also by voice vote, the committee approved action on budget transfers over $5,000. District finance staff member Duro reported three such transfers since the June meeting, totaling $56,526.68. One covered emergency plumbing work at the middle school after the facilities director found a leak in the main line entering the building; a committee member confirmed it was unrelated to recently renovated bathrooms. Duro separately reported 12 transfers under $5,000 since the last meeting, totaling $12,455.94.
The committee tabled approval of its meeting minutes because of a typo on the agenda; the chair said the minutes will be posted as unapproved on the state website and taken up at the next meeting. A motion to seal executive session minutes was also tabled after a committee member pointed out the executive session had been recessed, not completed.
Updated student handbooks for 2026–27 were presented for discussion but not voted on. Viveros said changes fall into three categories: alignment with recent Rhode Island laws on meal-payment systems and student technology and cell-phone use; routine administrative updates to leadership roles, emergency-contact procedures, attendance and discipline; and organizational changes including tables of contents. Handbooks are distributed electronically.
The committee also set its September workshop by consensus for Thursday, September 24th, from 9 a.m. to noon, after members cited childcare and an early-release school day in rejecting other options.
Bond presentation next week
Viveros said the district will present its proposed school bond projects to the Town Council on Tuesday, August 11th, ahead of a community vote in November. She said a yes vote would allow the district to move forward with the projects, and encouraged residents to attend or watch the livestream. Committee members asked whether renderings would be displayed; Viveros said they would be, and described a public-relations plan that includes middle school tours, open houses and community forums over the coming months. Specific project details and costs were not described in the meeting.
The meeting opened with a moment of silence for Richard Douglas Price, a longtime Portsmouth Middle School music teacher who died July 24th. The chair described him as a trumpet player who toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton and was in the Buglers Hall of Fame.
Viveros also reported the Portsmouth Middle School gymnasium has been repainted, funded as one of the final projects under the closing bond, and said fall registration is open for the district's Right At School before- and after-school program.
What's next
The Town Council takes up the school bond presentation Tuesday, August 11th. The district building committee meets August 26th. The School Committee's next regular meeting is September 1st, when the full enrollment report and the tabled minutes return. The committee workshop is set for September 24th at 9 a.m.
Residents were also pointed to community events before school starts: an America's 250th family day at Glen Park on August 22nd, a free exhibit at the Portsmouth Historical Society from August 21st to the 30th with a family day on August 29th, and the homecoming parade on October 3rd.