But the proposed school budget could strip the technology department of classes to teach Web design.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2004

BY ALISHA A. PINA
Journal Staff Writer

TIVERTON -- Fans can go there to hear a recent Tiverton High School Choir performance. One can also find out if makeup days were added to the school year because of a delayed opening or winter storms.

What will the School Committee discuss at its next meeting? What lessons do the fifth-grade teachers have in store? Need a school form to fill out or want to look up scholarships for graduating seniors. ... One can find it all there.

There's also a schedule of every high school game and the rosters of all participants. One can even see a clip of the high school's pie-eating contest.

Most who have viewed the Tiverton district's Web site -- www.tivertonschools.org -- agree it is extensive, informative and impressive. Most don't know, however, that most of the site is created and managed by fewer than a dozen high school students who call themselves the "Web Team."

As the site grows in popularity -- it has received 7,779 visits since Jan. 1 -- more students want to join the after-school team and the district's technology department is planning to expand.

Adviser and district Web master Ed Davis says, "We have big plans."

That is, of course, if the department does not take a hit after next year's school budget is settled at tomorrow's Financial Town Meeting. The Budget Committee recommended the district receive $19.77 million, which is $1.1 million less than the district wanted.

Two dozen pink slips were sent out three months ago in anticipation of a worst-case scenario. Schools Supt. William Rearick also recently presented other options -- eliminating all athletics at the high school, closing Fort Barton School and not purchasing any pupil supplies and text books -- to bring the department's budget in balance with the Budget Committee's suggested amount.

"I got a pink slip," Rose Muller, the district technology director said. "As did one of two part-time computer technicians. That would leave Greg Godino [the full-time district technician]. That's a ratio of 1 to 578 computers, 1 to 300 staff and 1 to over 2,300 kids."

Davis, the district adviser, said, "If we [the district] get cut, the Web site will be hurt."

Godino added, "It will say 'Welcome to Tiverton Public Schools' and that's it. There won't be any content to put in."

Davis isn't as concerned with the technology department's class offerings for next year. Six Web design classes are planned. It is from these classes that Davis draws his Web Team.

Yet, student Webmasters Courtney Wakem and Amanda Paquin found him. The two field hockey captains created a Web site for their high school team last summer and decided they wanted to help with the school's Web site.

"If you're going to have a student [run] Web site, it takes a lot of trust," Davis said. "They have never burned me and these two girls are amazing. They're so dedicated that Courtney had her father load FrontPage [a Web site designing program] on her notebook computer so she could work on the youth Web site in the car on the way to a college visit."

Paquin often works on the Web site from home.

The two 17-year-olds are best friends. They are both on the state Honor Society, ski club and captains of the field hockey team. In addition, Wakem plays on the volleyball team and participates in the book club. Paquin is in the school choir and All-State Chorus.

"We got our [driver's] licenses on the same day, too," Paquin said. "And we had the same score for the permit and license test."

Davis said they work as one unit. When the two arrived, the bare bones of the site was already up and running. The two modestly say they just added to the content. Gathering the information was the hardest part, they said.

It is updated daily, and the younger members of the team go through each page of the site for changes and glitches.

"It's hard to keep up with the extracurricular activities," Paquin said. "Keeping up with everyone. Knowing what's up."

Davis said while the two seniors will be missed next year, he has a few "up and coming" who have shown a lot of potential, such as sophomore Tom Riley.

"You just don't build a Web site by yourself," he said. "You need a team. And this Web site can be beneficial for the entire town, and it'll happen with these students."

Alisha A. Pina can be reached by phone at (401) 277-7465 or by e-mail at apinaATprojo.com. NOTE: The School Committee is meeting with the Budget Committee tonight at 7 p.m. in Town Hall to discuss the possibility of changing its recommendation before tomorrow's Financial Town Meeting at 7 p.m. in the high school gym.