Background

• Resident of Richmond since 1992.

• Served on Richmond Recreation Commission 1999 – 2001.

• Served on committee to design new senior center as part of the Richmond Commons project.

• Retired research and formulations chemist of 44 years for two exterior wall systems companies.

• Mentor for the work of college interns in an industrial laboratory in the summers of 2022 and 2024.

• Active member of the Richmond Conservation Commission from 2021 to present.

• Active member of the Buildings and Grounds committee for St. Joseph parish Hope Valley from 2012 to present including being chairman for 8 years.

• Volunteer with South County Habitat for Humanity many times over many years.

• Violin accompaniment for St. Joseph church choir for the past four years.

Platform

√ Complete transparency in education – putting parents first

I call for all Chariho learning materials and lesson plans to be completely open to parents as well as to the general public. Why? Parents have the ultimate authority in bringing up their children. School systems are meant to serve parents. The taxpaying public also has a vested interest in quality public education and can support families and schools. I suggest a partnership of families, the general public and the schools for the mutual benefit of all. This collaboration could take the form of knowledge exchanges between willing teachers and businesses or individuals from all walks of life, who could provide real world examples related to lessons that the students are learning. There is an old African proverb; “it takes a village to raise a child”.  It’s true.

√ Curricula putting students first – The Chariho curricula should promote subjects that will awaken students to their own self-reliance. I would recommend the following topics that are relevant to the world today: 

1. More trade skill courses - The demand for trade skills is greater than ever, and the supply is lower than ever.  The trade school is our strength.

2. Civics – Students must learn the true principles of the founding of our nation.

3. Nutrition science – Not just for those considering entering the health care industry.

4. Invention and innovation – Students need to have their ideas encouraged.

5. Regenerative agriculture – Not just for those who want to get into farming.

√ Chariho - united or not at all – It is unfair that one or even two towns exercise hegemony over the whole district. Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton must all approve for a bond or referendum to pass. It is the onus of the school committee to tailor a bond or referendum that will satisfy the voters in all three towns. Otherwise, Chariho is not a school district but a dysfunctional family.

√ No big unified elementary school – There is no need for a big, expensive, department of education driven elementary campus that will be impersonal for children and parents alike. The Jacobs report (2017) based upon a structural engineering study commissioned by the state showed that our elementary schools could be maintained safe and functioning for years to come at a fraction of the cost of building new. Moreover, elementary schools should be neighborhood schools, where parents and teachers are in an intimate setting and young children are not intimidated by the enormity of a colossal campus.

My vision for Chariho

David Lelli

1. Transparency

I will be advocating strongly for full transparency in education.  That means that all Chariho learning materials including lesson plans, book lists and reference materials for all grades need to be completely open to the public, not just to the parents, so that everyone can see exactly what the students are being taught and how they are being instructed.

These days, parental concerns run deep nationwide about children being indoctrinated at school with bias and in many cases false views of society.  Principles of critical race theory, transgenderism and DEI can and have been subtly woven into the curricula from grades K through 12 at many schools.  Students may be learning to see themselves as either victims or victimizers depending upon their race or gender or social status.  This is destructive.  Stories of inappropriate books making their way into school libraries have parents in many districts alarmed.  A South Kingstown mom, Nicole Solas, met stiff resistance for just inquiring about the curriculum and books at her daughter’s school, even to the point of having to face a lawsuit from the educational bureaucrats.  This is not how public education should work. Taxpayers fund public education for the young. Full transparency to all is needed as to what the children are learning and how it is being done.

It turned out that Nicole’s fears were founded.  She eventually discovered elements of CRT and inappropriate books in the South Kingstown school system.  Chariho may argue that there is no such evidence of this in its system.  If that’s the case, then there should be no reason not to open up all the books so that everyone can see.

Why should transparency in education extend the public in general and not just to the parents?  For one thing, the vast majority of our property taxes go to support our local public schools.  Taxpayers should know exactly what they are paying for.  Even if only a small fraction of the general public pays attention to what is happening in the local schools, they could be the eyes and ears for busy parents, alerting them to anything being taught that may be counter to their principles.  But beyond that, the public has a vested interest in how young people are instructed.  Quality education is the lifeblood of a thriving society.  Businesses are looking for well-educated and highly motivated graduates who have the necessary skills to be productive right away in a competitive society.  Good teachers want their students to understand how their lessons apply practically to their future lives.  Teachers could potentially network with people of goodwill from various backgrounds in the community, professionals, business owners, tradespeople, public servants etc., who are willing to share their knowledge and lived experiences.  At the invitation of a teacher, a party could share their knowledge with that teacher and his/her class even including classroom presentations.  This would provide inspiration to students as they would finally begin to have answers to their questions of ‘why do I need to learn this or that?’.  Students might eventually be clamoring for their teachers to arrange such events for their classes.  This is really what “putting the students first” is all about.  Businesses large and small that participate in such exchanges would have the incentive of being able to promote themselves as being civic-minded and publicly engaged, a huge marketing point for them.  A win for everybody.  Of course, such knowledge exchanges would need to be done with proper safeguards, but the benefits of such are enormous.  Society has a wealth of knowledge, experience and wisdom that can be passed on to the next generations.  There is an old African proverb; “it takes a village to raise a child”.  It’s true.

2. Priorities of education

I would work on promoting a curriculum that prioritizes the awakening our young people to their own self-reliance.  We owe it to our young people to give them instruction that brings them to their full potential for life. That means emphasizing courses that prepare the students to be confident, skillful, productive members of society upon graduation.  Such topics would include, but not limited to, improved and expanded trade skills, civics, nutrition science, invention and innovation, organic gardening / regenerative farming.  At the same time, less vital courses including college preparatory programs, especially in liberal arts fields, could be greatly reduced or eliminated.

1. Trade skills – Chariho has the best trade school in the state in the high school.  This should be a strength to focus upon and to promote.  The number of people with trade skills, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers etc., is decreasing in the country yet the need is greater than ever.  Students should be encouraged to learn a trade, where they can have a rewarding occupation right out of high school versus piling up a load of debt at a liberal arts college without any marketable skills to show for it years later.  Chariho should prioritize and invest heavily in the improvement and expansion of the trade school, even adding new courses such as plastering and regenerative farming.

2. Civics – Civics is not taught well enough in schools anymore.  The students need to learn about the founding principles of our country, what the founders envisioned and how they thought when forming our nation.  They built this country on the belief that all men are created equal and that our freedoms and liberties come from God our creator and not from other men or government.  This country was not founded on slavery, as proponents of the 1619 project would declare, and we are not inherently racist as some want us to believe.  Students become disheartened and discouraged when hearing things like that.  We were founded by thoughtful, principled, God-fearing men who understood that too much power corrupts leaders and a government that suppresses the liberties of the people is tyrannical.  They constructed a framework to guide this great nation on a course of enlightenment to overcome these problems and succeed.  For sure, we have made mistakes along the way in the struggle to become the nation our forefathers envisioned.  Our country overcame slavery with much sacrifice and bloodshed.  We’re the only nation on earth that has had a civil rights movement.  We need to teach and encourage these ideas to our next generations because we still have a long way to go to achieve the lofty goals of our founding.  We need the next generations to understand these principles and to carry them forth.  Civics instruction is vital. 

3. Nutrition science – The teaching of nutrition should be a part of every classroom in every grade K thru 12.  Children need to know the value of a wholesome diet and how natural, non-processed foods provide nutrition for their growing bodies.  Secondary schools can teach the biochemistry and metabolism of a quality diet including how vitamins and minerals are essential for the proper functioning of the various systems in our bodies.  These lessons are valuable for their entire lives even if they don’t end up in the healthcare industry.  Good food is medicine and bad food is poison.  The medical establishment is learning that nutrition science has long been neglected, and they are starting to teach it more and more in medical schools. 

4. Invention and innovation – The current entrepreneurship curricula in Chariho should be expanded to include encouraging ideas of invention and innovation.  Everyone has ideas from time to time about inventing or improving something.  Students can learn what it takes to bring an idea to reality through development and testing to marketing and promotion.  They should also learn how to deal with setbacks and how to have patience and persistence to overcome obstacles to success. They will see it is possible to bring an idea to reality.  This is how our country was built. 

5. Organic gardening and regenerative farming – The Richmond elementary school has a beautiful greenhouse and gardens for the children to learn how to grow things.  This should be the case in all Chariho elementary schools and extend to middle and high school as well.  Younger students should learn the basics of organic gardening including how to make and use compost and how to use natural non-toxic methods to control plant diseases and pests.  The secondary schools could include advanced curriculum on this topic to help inspire future generations of farmers, not relying on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides but employing the principles of regenerative farming.  Today, big agriculture with genetically modified crops and chemical based fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are squeezing out small scale farms.  If supply chains are disrupted, we could be in a world of hurt if there are no small farmers or gardeners to meet the food demands of society.  That’s why regenerative farming is so important.  This could be included as part of the trade school.  At the very least, students will learn what it takes to be self-sufficient.  These are valuable life lessons.  We can’t depend on everything we need to always be available in grocery stores.

6. Courses to be cut – Chariho needs to focus on the basics of what will educate all students to become happy and productive members of society.  They need to enjoy learning and discovering what they already know.  Reading and comprehension levels and basic math skills need to be brought up for all.  Until that happens, advanced curricula should be curtailed.  It has its place, but not at the expense of a basic well-rounded education.  No doubt there are many superfluous high level liberal arts courses that should be reduced or eliminated so that basic quality education could take priority.   

3. Chariho as a school district

I would look into the feasibility of changing how Chariho bonds and referenda are decided by requiring approval from all three towns rather than the aggregate vote of the entire district.

If the Chariho school district is to thrive, all the towns must be on the same page and pulling in the same direction.  A referendum for Chariho should be required to have the approval of all three towns in order to pass.  That way the will of the few is not overriding the will of the many.  For example, in the last school budget referendum, the vote was very close in both Hopkinton and Richmond.  Collectively, the two towns voted 1,222 against versus 1,162 in favor.  Yet the budget passed because Charlestown voted overwhelmingly in favor, 579 to 102.  There is no way that one town in the district should rule over the other two on important matters for Chariho.  If the budget is narrowly defeated in one or more of the towns, it is the onus of the school committee to go back and dialogue with those voters and find out what it takes to get their buy in, then make the necessary changes to the referendum so that all three towns are in line and moving forward together.  Otherwise, it is not a working school district but a dysfunctional family where the will of one part overrules the will of the others.  That is not right and shouldn’t be. 

4, Nix on the unified elementary school

I emphatically oppose the proposed bond to replace our three elementary schools with a giant elementary campus.  Opposition to such initiatives is always met with “you don’t care about the best interest of the students”.  It is precisely because I am concerned with the best interest of students, families and their communities that I oppose this bond. 

This November, voters will decide on a bond referendum to build a campus of two huge schools for pre-K thru grade 5 on the grounds of the Charlestown elementary school.  The cost of this monstrosity is projected to be 117 million dollars, and that’s just for starters.  This was decided upon after neglecting an engineering evaluation on the structural integrity of all schools in the Chariho district that was done in 2017 called the Jacobs report.  The Jacobs report stated that none of the four elementary schools in the district at the time were anywhere close to needing to be torn down and rebuilt or even gutted and completely renovated.  All that was needed was certain items of overdue maintenance and various upgrades that would amount to a fraction of the cost of building a huge school campus.  Yet the only three options presented to citizens of the district last year were drastic renovation of the now three schools, complete demolition and rebuilding on site of the three or closing the three down and building one big ‘beautiful’ elementary school somewhere in Chariho.  After ignoring citizen concerns, the powers that be decided that one big extravagant school was the way to go.  Several moms in Richmond had spoken up last year alarmed at losing their relatively small elementary school in favor of a colossal, impersonal institution for their young children.  Indeed, a look around the state shows that elementary schools are mostly intimate schools of several adjacent neighborhoods.  How intimidating is it for a 5-year-old to be put into a ginormous school where he or she knows nobody.  The only reason that the school committee recommended the one huge campus is that state aid would be forthcoming to pay for 65% of it and bring it up to state standards including the totally unnecessary requirement of 900 square feet per classroom.  This is nothing more than a power grab by the educational establishment of the state and the Chariho district to rule over the education of the children.  Yet they present opposition to such a plan as not being in the ‘best interest of the students’ when it is really not in the best interest of the department of education.  When one or more towns in Chariho goes bankrupt because of this boondoggle they won’t care.  More power to them as they take away the voice of the citizens even more. 

We don’t need one big elementary school campus.  Our neighborhood schools can be repaired and maintained properly to make them safe and functional learning environments for our children for years to come.  Just recently, the Hope Valley School (ironically the one ranked highest in the Jacobs report) was closed down because of low attendance.  Attendance has been down in recent years in Chariho.  If this is the case, why are we building a gigantic school?  Let’s keep our elementary schools local and give them the attention they need.  They can serve our students and their families well as safe and functional schools for a while yet.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not oppose building new.  When the time comes, and enrollment and revenues start to increase because of Chariho schools becoming renowned for excellence and public involvement, it is then that we can consider building new, one elementary school at a time, as needed.