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Here are excepts from my final statement as Chairman of the School Committee almost 11 years ago regarding the need for consolidation of schools. No more delays, consolidation must move forward.

http://warwickonline.com/stories/op-ed-prospective-on-the-warwick-school-department,25042?

Published January 11, 2007

[City and school spending must be cut. The superintendent along with the new school committee must be willing to make the tough choices and reduce school spending. The following are a few preliminary thoughts I have on how the department can reduce its budget in the next fiscal year. I hope these suggestions will serve as a means to provoke additional cost saving ideas from leaders throughout the city.

With some type of expansion of T.F. Green Airport likely, leading to the loss of homes and reduced student population around the airport and referencing the May 15, 2006 New England School Development Council report to the school department documenting the projected decrease in Warwick student enrollment of 1,028 students or 8.9% from 2005 through 2010, school leaders must make the difficult decision to cut costs by consolidating elementary schools.

I believe Wicks Elementary School is one of the schools that must be closed. In addition, a redistricting program must be implemented immediately to better smooth student population around the airport and provide better utilization of existing elementary schools for the start of the 2007/2008 academic year.

Potowomut Elementary School cannot continue to operate with an under utilized population of students. The school district must better utilized this school and other schools in the district by either increasing the student population through the redistricting process, establishing citywide programs in the schools, for example, in the area of out of district special education services, and/or developing collaborative programs with neighboring school districts. If these measures cannot be undertaken then some of these schools, including Potowomut, should be closed by next fall.

The antiquated, confined building on Warwick Lake Avenue is not conducive to the central administrative functions necessary to run the school department. Plans should be developed to move these offices into the vacated Wicks Elementary School building by next year. The facilities in this building would be suitable for administrative and support staff offices and the auditorium ideal for conducting school committee and other school related organizational meetings. Professional development seminars for teachers could also be held in the building.

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The "monarchy attitude" prevalent in schools and municipal government must cease. Warwick can no longer afford to run individual city and school departments, with similar administrative functions, like medieval fiefdoms where it is taboo to share resources or work collaboratively.

To save jobs, union leaders must be willing to eliminate restrictive language in contracts so services can be optimized while reducing cost.

The city council and mayor must work to coordinate employee benefit packages throughout all departments in the city and in schools so they do not become a road block to consolidation.

Staffing at all levels throughout the school department and city departments must be reduced. It is time city and school departments adopt the philosophy of "doing more with less".]