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Nearly half a million dollars wasted by Warwick Public Schools in just over 1 year.

June 7, 2016

The Warwick School Committee and Warwick Public Schools administration has spent $421,894.85 from April 2015 to June 1st 2016 on non-educational vendor payouts. This information was requested from the school department this month by an attorney and the results are beyond staggering. The request was made under the freedom of information act and the following questions were asked of the school department:

-What has been the total amount paid to the law firm of Brennan, Recupero, Cascione, Scungio, and McAllister from their hire date until the end of May 2016?

-What is the name of the outside public relations firm hired by the school department as well as all fees and compensation paid to them since their date of hire?

-What are the total amount of fees, expenses, and all other compensation that has been paid to the SMMA consulting firm since their date of hire?

Given the state of affairs in Warwick's schools it is astounding to see how much money has been spent on nothing that benefits the education of the students in Warwick. Below is a list of the totals obtained directly from the school department from their vendor check summary released today:

-The law office has received $147,719.08 from 7/28/2015 to 5/03/2016.

-The public relations firm of Martin and Associates has received $27,580.00 from 1/26/2016 to 5/31/2016.

-The SMMA consulting firm has received $246,595.77 from 4/22/2015 to 5/10/2016.

-The grand total from all three of these items is a staggering $421,894.85.

The school committee and administration have been crying poverty for years and demanded that we need school consolidation for tax relief of Warwick's citizens. Spending nearly $422,000 in a year on non-educational expenses is anything but tax relief. The citizens of Warwick need to call the school committee, as well as the administration, and demand that your tax dollars not be wasted in such a way.

The elected school committee could simply negotiate with the Warwick Teachers Union and then you would no longer need an outside law firm to fight everything in court. The top heavy school administration could use some of their work day, that they are paid very well for by the way, to handle public relations and logistical planning of our school department. This would eliminate the need for Martin and associates as well as SMMA.

How many laid off teachers would this amount have saved? How many chrome books could have been handed out to Warwick's students? How outraged will the public be after learning about such frivolous spending of their tax dollars? One will have to wait and see.