The first in a series of six workshops on the long-term facilities plan for Warwick schools will be held tonight at 7:30 in the Toll Gate High School cafeteria.

“This is a very aggressive timeline,” School Committee Chairman Jennifer Ahearn said yesterday. Ahearn aims to complete the workshops, which will be facilitated by Symms Maini & McKee Associates (SMMA) and open to the public with the opportunity for comment by the end of May.

The objective is for SMMA to come up with two proposals for schools to address the decline in the school age population and its aging infrastructure by June. The committee is faced with a June deadline on its waiver of fire code improvements to Gorton and Aldrich Junior High Schools. A committee comprised of school, city and community representatives unanimously recommended the closure of both schools almost two years ago. As part of that plan, the two junior highs would be consolidated at Veterans High School. Vets would close with its student population going to Toll Gate and Pilgrim High Schools.

As the junior high schools were being considered for closure, the state fire marshal granted a waiver of the fire code improvements estimated to cost almost $2 million. The School Committee, however, voted to have a consultant study the alternatives and retained SMMA at $238,243.

Meanwhile, Mayor Scott Avedisian and a group of City Council members are calling for a “separate meeting” with the committee and consultant.

Ahearn said she invited the mayor to be a part of the workshops, but that didn’t work out and there had been no further communication from the mayor or council.

She stressed that elected officials are welcome to attend the workshops and offer comments during the public speaking portion of the program. She was surprised to learn the mayor and members of the council are looking for a separate meeting.

“I never received any communication from the mayor or the council,” she said.

In a release issued Saturday, Avedisian said Council President Donna Travis and council members Joseph Solomon, Ed Ladouceur, Steven Colantuono and Camille Vella-Wilkinson were joining him in asking for a meeting “in order to allow for all elected officials who are responsible for funding the long-term facilities plan to have a role in the formation of the plan.”

“I don’t have any problems in what they’re calling for,” Ahearn said yesterday.

She said she is requesting that the consultant be placed on the docket for either of the council’s regularly scheduled May meetings. The consultant would give the council its own workshop. If that can’t be arranged, she reiterated all elected officials are welcome at the six workshops.

In the release the mayor said, “It is not appropriate to announce that the Superintendent, Mayor, and an undisclosed third person have been invited to be part of this process. Every elected official should be part of this process and should be invited to participate.”

In response, Ahearn said she wants this process to be open and transparent and has insisted that it be that way.

As for tonight’s workshop, Ahearn said the consultant would provide an overview of the district. She said she has a list of tentative workshops to be held at Toll Gate as well as Pilgrim and Vets, but those dates would not be released until confirmed.

She said the consultant would address the questions, “are we going to consolidate, build, what are the next steps?”