After a year of heated debate between parents and school administrators, the elementary report card committee looked like it was finally on track to implementing a new elementary school report card. The project has now been derailed, however, due to lack of funding.

“The fact is we had to take a look at things and prioritize a lot of initiatives,” said Superintendent Peter Horoschak. “With the budget situation we decided it’s better to postpone it now than have to deal with it after all the work had been accomplished.”

Thanks to compromises on the school side and research and participation on the part of parents, the general set-up for the report card had been agreed upon. But with cuts coming down from the state, the funding apparatus for the project is unstable.

“It’s definitely not a done issue by any stretch of the imagination. I see it as a temporary delay,” said School Committee Chairman Christopher Friel. “I think the new report card will be far superior to what we have right now.”

Specifics on how much money would be needed to implement a new report card were not defined.

During the research phase of the project, teachers had attended full-day workshops to develop a list of indicators that outline specific grade level expectations. The next workshop was slated to outline the proficiency language attached to the rubric that would be used to gauge performance. That work was paid for through professional development funding from the state, which would also cover future training on the new report card system. With that money gone, not only do the schools lack funding, but they will also have to go back and find a way to pay for the professional development hours they’ve already used on the project. Additional funding will be necessary once the committee is ready for implementation.

“Implementation could involve professional development in order to prepare the staff but what we’re really looking at in terms of the implementation cost has a lot to do with printing it up, having it electronically posted and acted on,” Horoschak said.

In terms of prioritizing costs for the school department, Assistant Director of Curriculum Dr. Anne Siesel said the change in report cards was not required by the state Department of Education.

“The report card is one of the areas that is not a mandate. With the district in the type of financial situation it’s in, we felt fiscally we needed to put the project on hold,” said Siesel, who was in charge of the report card committee. “One of the big decision-making points is it’s not a state required effort; we just believed it was something important for Warwick to do,” agreed Horoschak.

While the superintendent says it is impossible to predict the future for the report card with the state of finances so unclear, Siesel is optimistic the committee will be able to finish the preparation phase as early as next winter.

With proficiency language still undefined and no final copy decided on, the committee would have needed the remainder of the school year to be ready for a fall pilot program. Full implementation would have been saved for the fall of 2010. If Siesel’s estimate is correct, the timeline for implementation will not change.

“With any luck we’d be able to complete the work by mid-year and then be able to pilot,” she explained.

In terms of momentum, Siesel said it is impossible to tell whether the excitement of involved parents will continue when the project picks back up but she is confident the biggest obstacles have been passed.

“I think the breakthrough that we had gave the parents peace of mind and they felt confident in turning it over to the teachers. I don’t see this as a major setback,” she said.

Parent member Laura Testa has been involved in the decision-making process for the duration of the report card proposal. She said she is disappointed the project has been put on hold but her bottom line has always been the welfare of the students in Warwick.

“I’m sorry to see the project shelved for now but I’m in full support of the administration in anything they need to do to save money,” she said. “If cutting this is going to help with the day-to-day stuff then that’s fine.”

Until the school department budget is finalized and the administration has a better grasp on what state aid will or will not be coming their way next year, the status of the new report card will remain up in the air. Horoschak emphasized that the proposal is not mandated though, and believes that when the time comes to return to the table, it will be smooth sailing toward implementation.

“We’re starting out next time we gather from a much better spot than we were in previously,” he said. “It’s a collaborative effort and what I fully expect is it will pick up exactly where it left off.”