Council calls on schools to investigate special education complaints

By Brandon Maxwell
Posted 12/8/16

By BRANDON MAXWELL The Warwick City Council called on the school department to retain an independent investigator to investigate its special education department and granted the police department spending on uniforms on Monday. With growing worries from

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Council calls on schools to investigate special education complaints

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The Warwick City Council called on the school department to retain an independent investigator to investigate its special education department and granted the police department spending on uniforms on Monday.

With growing worries from many about special education, Councilman Edgar Ladouceur said that an investigation would put all concerns to rest and allow families to have faith in Warwick’s public schools once again. He charged Warwick schools of violating state and federal laws and improperly staffing special education classes.

“I am presenting this resolution to you with full support from the Education Outreach Committee to request that the school department hire an independent, impartial and highly qualified investigator to investigate the subsequent report on special education services in the Warwick city department, and that the Warwick School Department and its agents cooperate with said investigation,” Ladouceur said.

While unease has been an ongoing issue, council members made a point in saying that the need for an investigator is not aimed at casting blame on current faculty and staff working in special education. The main purpose of the investigation will be to report on the complaints concerning the special education services in the Warwick School Department.

The council created a tentative schedule of 45 days to finalize the exact duties of the investigator, as well as making progress on determining a pool of applicants. The school department would be expected to pay for the investigation. Council members Camille Vella-Wilkinson, Donna Travis, Joseph Gallucci, Kathleen Usler and Steve Merolla co-sponsored Ladouceur's resolution.

“The fact that some officials in the city feel that it’s not in the concern of the City Council is ridiculous,” Councilwoman Vella-Wilkinson said. “Parents are our constituents, and the children are our constituents as well.”

In other news, Major Robert Nelson from the Warwick Police Department requested a new budget of $25,000 for police personnel uniforms because the three vendors it had previously contacted all denied the option to bid for the department’s services. Nelson also requested funds for new tires and a little more than $46,000 for updated pervasive software and software support in police cruisers from TriTech Software Systems, a company that all 38 other cities and towns in the state use, according to Nelson.

Because the contract with the current uniform supplier expired on November 30 and none of the solicited companies put forth a bid, the police department requested that it be able to use money from its own operating budget to buy the specific items needed from the three vendors it had already contacted.

Ladouceur questioned the spending, asking why it took so long for a new budget to be requested by the police department in the first place. He also expressed concerns with allowing vendors to set their own price after rejecting the opportunity to work with the police department. He stressed that had there been more time in advance, the council and the police department could have worked together in finding the cheapest available option.

“Now this is going to go to someone that chose not to bid and they’re going to give us a number that they feel like giving us that we don’t have a choice with,” Ladouceur said.

Nelson said that the agreement made with the city required the department to look for vendors to bid within approximately 40 miles of Warwick. During the meeting, Councilwoman Vella-Wilkinson found that there were at least five other vendors within a 40-mile range of Warwick that had not been included on the initial list of bidders.

Ultimately, the council voted 7-2 in favor of allowing the department to spend funds on uniforms due to the holidays limiting the amount of time left to make the necessary purchases. Major Nelson said he already has four officers-in-training getting ready for the police academy that will be needing uniforms over the coming weeks.

Vella-Wilkinson and Ladouceur voted in opposition. Ladouceur said he did not vote in favor of Nelson’s request because the police department did not follow the correct processes, which could lead to extra unnecessary spending. A vote on the requested budget for the tires and the software in police cruisers was delayed until the next meeting.

The council voted to hold decisions on most ordinances for a month at most regarding a veteran’s discount card, parking restrictions in the Highland Beach area, renewing the lease for Sprague Field and purchasing, among others. A unanimous 9-0 vote was finalized for a request to be made to the town of East Greenwich asking that the four-way stop signs currently at Division St. and Fairmount Dr. be moved to the intersection of Love Lane and Division St. The council also voted unanimously for traffic signage for the newly relocated Main Ave.

The next City Council meeting is on Monday, December 19 at 7 p.m. in Warwick City Hall’s council chambers.

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  • richardcorrente

    Ed Ladouceur is the strong force that is righting this wrong.

    Ed Ladouceur is watching where of tax dollars are going and he won't allow overspending to continue.

    Ed Ladouceur cares about the rights of our students and he is spending hundreds of hours to improve our schools.

    Ed Ladouceur is a great leader. Want proof? Come to the City Council meeting Monday night.

    We are fortunate to have him.

    Merry Christmas everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    Thursday, December 8, 2016 Report this