Data on school repairs sought

Ladouceur resolution calls for subpoena

Matt Bower
Posted 1/6/15

In an unusual move, Ward 5 City Councilman Edgar Ladouceur has drafted a resolution calling for the subpoena of information from the Warwick School Department.

In December, the council voted …

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Data on school repairs sought

Ladouceur resolution calls for subpoena

Posted

In an unusual move, Ward 5 City Councilman Edgar Ladouceur has drafted a resolution calling for the subpoena of information from the Warwick School Department.

In December, the council voted unanimously to approve the transfer of ownership of the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center (WACTC) from the state to the Warwick School Department. Under an agreement with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), ownership of the facility would be turned over to the school department, along with $3.1 million to be used for needed repairs and renovations to the facility. At that meeting, Ladouceur said he wanted to see a list of the actual repairs and how much each would cost. He said he voted to approve the transfer with the understanding he would receive that information after, he said, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard D’Agostino assured him that information was available and would be sent to him.

“I asked if the $3.1 million received would be for renovations to the tech center,” Ladouceur said during a phone interview. “I wanted to make sure the money would be used for repairs and not staff or vehicles.”

Ladouceur said he then asked for the list of repairs.

“I asked if they had line items of repairs totaling $3.1 million and he [D’Agostino] said he did, so I voted to approve the transfer,” Ladouceur said. “I did not have the information the next day or a week later. I sent email requests, and three weeks later I still did not have it.”

Ladouceur said he then received a list of the repairs in an Excel sheet format but there were no corresponding prices listed, so he requested it again.

“D’Agostino stated on the record he had that information, so I’m docketing a resolution to subpoena that information,” Ladouceur said. “We’ll be voting on it at the upcoming meeting. I want to see those numbers.”

Ladouceur said he wants to make sure the money will be used for repairs and nothing else.

“I had a simple spread sheet saying they would paint this, fix that, but there were no corresponding dollar amounts,” he said. “I’m just looking to receive the information that D’Agostino said he already had in his possession, compiled by line item of costs totaling $3.1 million.”

Ladouceur said one of the things that influenced him to approve the transfer was the reassurance that the money would be spent on necessary upgrades.

“He [D’Agostino] simply has not, or refused to provide it,” Ladouceur said.

During a phone interview last Wednesday, D’Agostino said he directed the requested information be sent to Ladouceur.

“If he got the wrong information or it was incomplete, he should have called me,” he said. “The cost list is in a report that was done by an outside company to assess the integrity of the building. As you go through different chapters, there are different types of repairs; it’s not all on one page, it’s scattered throughout the report.”

D’Agostino said the career and tech center was built in 1972, so areas such as the roof, wiring and sanitation are 40 years old and in need of upgrades.

D’Agostino said there is no need to subpoena the information, as the report is a public document, which has also been submitted to RIDE.

“People have access to open records. If that’s what he’s [Ladouceur] asking for, I’ll give him the whole report, it’s about 100 pages,” D’Agostino said.

D’Agostino said everything has been up front in the process.

“In an agreement signed by the mayor, me, and the commissioner, the funding is to be re-purposed into the building,” he said.

Since schools were closed for the past two weeks during the holiday break, and with D’Agostino battling a nasty cold last week, he said, “Next week [this week] I will make sure Ladouceur gets a copy of the entire report and he can look through it, there’s no need to subpoena anything.”

D’Agostino said he sent Ladouceur an email stating that architectural firms were coming up with a list of priorities, with sanitation and drainage at the top of the list, to address followed by other items, such as electrical, that are not as detrimental to the functioning of the building.

“We were the ones that pressed for having the building surveyed to make sure what we were getting and that we had enough money to fix it,” D’Agostino said, adding that the state paid the $35,000 for the building assessment. “We told them, unless we have the survey, we may not entertain the offer.”

D’Agostino said transfer of the tech center to the school department has been in the works for a long time.

“Forty years ago, they wanted to give us $600,000. Then two years ago, it was $1.6 million,” he said.

With city approval granted, D’Agostino said there are still some things that need to be finalized at the state level.

“It won’t be too long into the new year,” he said when asked of when he expects the transfer to be completed.

During a phone interview Monday, Elliot Krieger, spokesperson for RIDE, said the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education was slated to discuss the matter on Monday, with the expectation it would be voted on at its Jan. 12 meeting.

“If they were to approve it at that meeting, it is still subject to the availability of funds approved in the capital budget,” Krieger said. “It’s all in the budget request for fiscal year 2016.”

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