Saturday morning the School Department presented its fiscal year 2015 adopted budget request of $160.6 million to the City Council for consideration. The request includes an increase of $2.1 million in local appropriation funds compared to the FY 2013-14 budget. The City Council was slated to vote last night on the proposed $288.8 million city budget.

However, Mayor Scott Avedisian’s recommended budget level funds the schools with $119.1 million, bringing the total schools budget to $158.5 million, a $1.3 million increase from the FY 14 school budget.

School Committee Chairwoman Bethany Furtado opened the presentation, saying, “This budget secures a sound educational path for our children, who will receive an education to be successful and that they’re entitled to.”

Furtado said the budget includes $1.1 million in debt service principal and interest payments on construction bond money, which the city released and the school department agreed to pay in order to complete building fire code upgrades.

Furtado said over the past eight years, the school department has decreased staff in excess of 250 employees and has consolidated four elementary schools.

“A vocal minority persevered in achieving the delay of [further] consolidation,” she said in reference to the Long Term Facilities Planning Committee’s (LTFPC) unanimous recommendation to close Aldrich and Gorton junior high schools and re-purpose Warwick Veterans Memorial High School as a super junior high, which the School Committee tabled in favor of hiring an outside consultant to examine the district and provide a long-term plan moving forward, which could cost between $200,000 and $500,000.

Furtado said certain initiatives the department wishes to complete were not included in the budget, such as all-day kindergarten and the middle school model, in which sixth grade would be moved up to the junior highs.

Schools Chief Budget Officer Anthony Ferrucci said the department had to absorb $4 million in fixed cost expenses, including a 20 percent increase in workers compensation premiums and 38 percent increase in tuitions for career and tech and charter schools, among others, plus an additional $865,000 that was added to the budget by the School Committee to cover the cost of separating the legal department from human resources, hiring three secondary math coaches and miscellaneous building improvements.

Based on recent communication, Ferrucci said it seems that state aid has been over budgeted by $80,000 as the department could receive less than anticipated.

Declining city support

Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla said he didn’t know whether he should compliment the school department on reducing employees by 275 over eight years or be embarrassed that the same can’t be said for the city side.

“In 2004, 39.7 percent of tax dollars went to the city and 60.3 percent went to the school department. In 2014, 45.2 percent goes to the city and 54.8 percent goes to the school department,” he said.

Merolla said the schools have made cuts in response to declining enrollment, but he said some of those cuts have been drastic.

“Things like computers and books to students are what suffers,” he said. “I fear the toll will be taken on the next generation.”

Merolla said he was especially concerned to see programs like the Accelerated Learning Activities Program (ALAP) being cut.

“ALAP caters to our best and brightest and if we feed that creativity, it will come back home to roost,” he said.

Merolla told the story of a former Toll Gate graduate who went on to school in Boston but came back to Rhode Island to start his own company in Quonset, where he once had 36 employees. Merolla said the company relies on engineering and now the owner says he can’t find that expertise in Rhode Island.

“If we don’t have the resources to produce the product, the product suffers,” he said. “There have been some devastating cuts over the last 10 years.”

Ward 4 Councilman Joseph Solomon cautioned the school department that the City Council is in a difficult position when it comes to determining the budget.

“When we’re presented with a budget with a tax increase, less revenue and dipping $3.6 million into the emergency reserve fund, it’s not a liquid position,” he said. “I want to give the best tools to teachers to educate our children and our future. It breaks my heart to see programs being cut, but we don’t enjoy a great luxury with finances.”

Solomon followed up, saying he wanted to clear up a misconception.

“There’s a misconception or a misunderstanding relative to school funding,” he said. “The council scrutinized everything that was presented to us in the last budget and we were able to achieve a significant cost savings that was presented to the school department.”

Solomon said the council spent numerous hours on the budget to find savings that were appropriated to the schools.

“It’s not accurate to say you’ve been level funded,” he said.

Robert Cushman, who spoke during public comment, wanted to know why it is taking so long for the RFP Committee to draw up an RFP (Requests for Proposal) for the outside consultant.

Delays questioned

"To take six months to write an RFP is absolutely ridiculous. There's no reason it should take that long," Cushman said.

Ward 3 Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson took exception with Cushman’s comments on the RFP committee, of which she is a member.

“Rather than look at the RFP as an expense, look at it as an investment in the future,” she said. “I believe there can be a reuse for school buildings.”

When Cushman asked about the work the LTFPC performed in arriving at a recommendation to consolidate Aldrich and Gorton, Vella-Wilkinson said, “based on what a member of that committee told me, the information from the long-term planning committee was tainted.”

Cushman responded, “So one opinion trumped hundreds of hours of work and research?”

David Testa, a concerned parent and a member of the LTFPC, said he took offense with the characterization that the information was tainted because “that’s categorically false.”

Testa said consolidation should have happened years ago.

“I wonder if a consultant recommends the same thing, will it be supported by the community?” he said.

Darlene Netcoh, an English teacher at Toll Gate and a Warwick resident, said the consolidation plan may have been good for the short-term, but it didn’t take into account the long-term educational needs of the district.

“The city did a comprehensive plan for the city and it should have included schools right from the start,” she said.

Council President Donna Travis said she’s tired of the City Council being blamed for the school department’s problems.

“We shouldn’t be getting blamed for cutting sports or cutting ALAP,” she said. “They don’t see children as the top priority in that department.”

Travis said the school department should make cuts from the top down, starting with administration instead of programs.

“People of the city want a good education for their kids. We write the check, but we have no say where the money goes,” she said. “We still have to plow our streets and pick up the garbage.”

Cushman said he sees things differently.

“One hundred percent of the tax increase is going to the city side of the budget,” he said. “The city has appropriated an increase of $1 million over eight years. You need to look at city spending; the school department isn’t driving up costs.”

Roger Durand also disagreed with Travis’ comments.

“I see it as the opposite with the mayor blaming the schools, not the other way around,” he said. “That’s what I read.”

Durand said if the school department wants more money, the city should look at pensions.

“Our most precious resource are our children and they deserve a quality education, but if you want more money, you need to start with pensions,” he said. “Start with having retirees pay 20 percent co-pays on their health care.”

Eugene Nadeau, a member of the School Committee who spoke as a member of the public at the budget hearing, said the LTFPC is made up of decent human beings.

“When we get the consultant’s report, then we can compare it with the long-term committee’s report and take the best of both,” he said.

Nadeau said it was unconscionable to force the schools to pay for the debt service on bonds.

“We wouldn’t have got that money if we didn’t sign that agreement; you’re talking about a ransom,” he said.

Furtado interjected.

“The School Committee entered into that agreement willingly and knowingly; it was not forced upon us,” she said.

Nadeau said he doesn’t want another dollar from the city, as long as two things are taken care of.

“Just take the debt service off the school department and pay for the Vets roof out of bond money, as it was intended,” he said, referring to the need for a new roof at Warwick Vets High School that will cost $2 million. “My solution could be met in one week, that’s all it takes.”

One concerned parent said by level funding schools, the city is sending parents the message to not send their kids to Warwick schools.

“Smart parents look at what you’re doing and realize you’re not supporting the schools,” she said. “Funding should not always be the obstacle to get things done. We need leaders who are doing the right things to put education first.”

Merolla said the school department’s hands are tied because it has to fund certain state mandates, as well as non-negotiable fixed costs.

“The state funding formula and what Warwick gets compared to other communities is abysmal,” he said. “We get short-changed every year. If we were funded per pupil across the district, we wouldn’t be having these discussions.”