Latest news with #RIDE
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers seek answers in faulty school funding estimates
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, holds his head during during a committee hearing on Thursday, May 22, 2025, during a presentation on a state enrollment data debacle that may leave Rhode Island public schools underfunded by about $24 million. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) An outdated calculation by the state education department and Gov. Dan McKee's budget office last fall now leaves Rhode Island schools facing a $24 million budget shortfall. 'This is not your fault, but it is your problem,' Sen. Jonathon Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat, told Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) officials at a legislative hearing Thursday. 'It's our problem.' The discrepancy was driven by the data, or lack thereof, on low-income and multilingual learner students in the state. Both populations factor in the statewide education funding formula that determines aid to local school districts. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) generates enrollment numbers in March and October, using data provided by school districts. Typically, the governor's budget office uses the March data when preparing the education funding formula around August, ahead of the release of the governor's budget the following January. But this time round, McKee's office used the October 2024 data collected by RIDE, which showed declining enrollment overall, and therefore fewer students in poverty. The new March numbers, according to RIDE, showed things swinging in the opposite direction, with more English learners and students living in poverty than accounted for in the fiscal 2026 budget McKee submitted months ago. 'The October data hasn't been great the last few years,' Mark Dunham, the education department's finance director, told senators. 'And then 2025 was the first year that October was used.' The discrepancy includes roughly $12 million in basic education aid and another $12 million tied to the Student Success Factor, a weight in the state's school funding formula that gives additional support to districts with many students living in poverty. For fiscal year 2025, the state began using October enrollment figures instead, and RIDE reported a total enrollment of 136,000 students, while the governor's budget used 134,000 for the number of students statewide. The March 2025 update later corrected the count to 135,600 — revealing a roughly 1,000-student gap between RIDE's projection and the updated total. 'OK, so the numbers in October were incomplete for your assessment, we [now] believe the numbers in March are complete,' said committee chair and Middletown Democratic Sen. Lou DiPalma. 'I'm trying to understand how we have a new set of data here. How do we believe what we have that this is correct? How do I know that the 39 cities and towns that provide the data are still not incomplete?' 'It looks to us that they did not completely update their poverty numbers,' Dunham said of local school districts who had to submit data. The state currently uses food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) enrollment to calculate student poverty, applying a 1.6 multiplier to estimate the real total need. RIDE has also considered matching students through Medicaid, but the state has not yet fully incorporated it into the formula. 'An overwhelming number of states in the country use Medicaid match as their proxy for poverty,' Dunham said, then described what that approach could mean to the state budget. 'At the time we suggested it, it was about a $20 million number. Now, with all the new data we have, the enrollment updates, it's a $40 million number.' Victor Morente, a RIDE spokesperson, said in an email Thursday, that RIDE updates the data twice a year as part of its own preparation for submitting a budget request to the governor. 'At this time, research is ongoing to determine if there is an actual under identification,' Morente said. Legislation in 2022 changed how students are counted, Morente said, which may have resulted in the undercount. 'We were probably under-counting the number of students in poverty in certain districts,' Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Daniels told lawmakers. 'And the broader way of fixing it…is changing your student success factor based on the wealth of each individual community.' 'But if you do that … are you setting 40% [aid] as the floor, or is that the starting point?…It gets very complicated, because in that case, you have winners and losers. So I think this is a longer term issue. We do need to fix this.' Daniels said the budget office will be submitting a budget amendment which reflects the changes in enrollment from March. Dunham said states like Massachusetts and Connecticut are facing similar data collection issues when it comes to low-income students. 'I think we'd have to really rebuild the whole formula to be the same as Massachusetts, because I think the core [funding amount] is a lot less, or at least less, than ours,' Dunham said. 'But we do wonder. We do understand that there are different levels of poverty that we should be able to address.' Dunham ended his comments on a resigned note: 'Even if we match all the kids exactly, we still are probably going to undercount a lot of the kids that are eligible for different reasons.' DiPalma shrugged. 'Until we change the system, that's what it is,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
CTV News
19-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
OPP report multiple long weekend impaired driving incidents in cottage country
Officers from City of Kawartha Lakes OPP conduct a RIDE program. (Source: OPP Central Region/Facebook)
CTV News
18-05-2025
- CTV News
Highway 69 traffic stop nets $31K in suspected drugs and cash
An Ontario Provincial Police officer conducts a traffic stop as part of Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) operations in northern Ontario in this undated photo. (File photo/Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)
Scottish Sun
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Controversial Celebrity Big Brother star reveals model wife is heavily pregnant with FOURTH child
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A CONTROVERSIAL Celebrity Big Brother star has revealed his wife is heavily pregnant with their fourth child. Dapper Laughs, real name Daniel O'Reilly, starred on the reality series back in 2018. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 7 A controversial Celebrity Big Brother star has revealed his model wife is heavily pregnant with their fourth child Credit: Instagram 7 The couple posted a tongue in cheek video to Instagram Credit: Instagram 7 Shelley Rae and Dapper Laughs already have three little girls Credit: Rex 7 The comedian, real name Daniel O'Reilly, starred on CBB in 2018 Credit: PA:Press Association The London-born comedian previously told how he hoped his stint in the Celebrity Big Brother compound had redeemed him from being "the most hated man in the UK." Four years prior to his time in the spy house, his tour and TV show was axed after he told an audience member she was "gagging for a rape." He subsequently told how the sick comment "destroyed" his life. After vowing he is a changed man, he is now marking a happy chapter in his personal life. Dapper and his wife Shelley Rae took to Instagram for a tongue-in-cheek video which showed them holding a pregnancy test. Dapper told the camera: "We are about to see if we have got baby number four on the way," before unveiling the test screen to show a positive result. Shelley then said: "f*** off," before standing up to show her huge bump, confirming the pair knew all along. Still going with the joke he said: "Do another one just to be sure," before the mum of three replied: "Yeah you're right." In his video caption, Dapper wrote: "Me & @shelleyraerae need to get a TV in our bedroom." CBB star rushed to hospital after horror golf cart accident as stag do goes wrong She added underneath: "What we saying then, pink or blue? Not that it matters but dear lord I'm running low on girl names." Yet Shelley confirmed they were keeping the unborn tot's gender a secret. She replied to one fan and said: "Didn't know with Neve, found out with Roux & Sage & keeping this one a surprise." ROUGH RIDE Dapper's comedy career ended after he made a joke about a female audience member at one of his gigs. He told the crowd 'she was gagging for a rape.' He revealed he felt suicidal following the backlash and apologised profusely. Dapper explained: 'I don't mind admitting that. I have [since] worked with groups like It's OK To Talk, who deal with male suicide in young men. 'I did a lot of research about it afterwards and worked with them on raising awareness, because I did feel like that. 'I don't now if it was because of the drinking but there was one point where I thought if my old man f***ing dies then I'm f***ing off.' FAMILY AFFAIR Back in 2016, he welcomed his first child. And Dapper and Shelley got engaged in 2018 following a proposal on live television as the comedian became the third contestant to leave CBB. The happy couple then tied the knot in July 2022. In November 2023, the comedian shared the news that they were expecting their third baby, and the moment they told their two daughters. Dapper previously told The Sun how they had struggled to have children. He said: 'She was told she couldn't have babies the first time around. 'The second time, this time, she was just about to go in a do tests and we were just trying.' 7 His comedy career was ruined in 2014 when he made a sick comment about rape Credit: Getty - Contributor 7 He hoped his CBB stint would redeem him in the eyes of the public Credit: Channel 5/Ruckas Pictures 7 He will soon be a dad of four Credit: Instagram
CTV News
07-05-2025
- CTV News
Driver faces weapons-related charge after stopping at police R.I.D.E. checkpoint
Police pullover drivers at a R.I.D.E. program in this undated image. Provincial police conducting an impaired driving spot check Tuesday night in Grand Valley ended up laying a weapons-related charge. Dufferin OPP officers set up the Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) check at the corner of Water and William Streets when the vehicle entered just before midnight. Police allege the officers noticed the driver had cannabis and an open bottle of booze in the vehicle, which prompted an impaired driving investigation. While it's unclear where the weapons were located, police say they confiscated two firearms during the investigation. The 30-year-old man from Erin faces charges of careless storage of a firearm, weapon, prohibited device or ammunition, plus driving with cannabis readily available and driving with an open container of alcohol.
