Sudden spike in summer school tuition raises ire

Jennifer Rodrigues
Posted 7/4/13

When Cheryl Marinosci showed up to Pilgrim High School early Tuesday to register her son for summer school, she and the other parents were shocked to learn the tuition had increased by $50.

“I …

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Sudden spike in summer school tuition raises ire

Posted

When Cheryl Marinosci showed up to Pilgrim High School early Tuesday to register her son for summer school, she and the other parents were shocked to learn the tuition had increased by $50.

“I was probably the eighth person in line,” said Marinosci, adding that she arrived before the doors even opened at 8 a.m. When the first parent finished registering his child, Marinosci said he announced to the gathered parents outside the room that there was an increase.

Marinosci said all of the parents were shocked and it was evident that not one of them knew there had been an increase in tuition cost.

She explained she had received a flyer along with her son’s report card regarding summer school only a week and a half ago. It said her son would need to attend summer school for science and that the cost for one subject (or 30 hours of class time) would be $220 for a Warwick resident.

When it was her turn to pay for his registration, Marinosci was told the cost for one subject would be $270.

“That isn’t right,” said Marinosci.

When she got to work, Marinosci informed her co-worker, Deb Gremour, about the increase because Gremour’s son also needed to take a class.

“I mean the $220, it’s tough enough to swing that,” said Gremour, who is a single parent. “I just didn’t understand.”

When Marinosci and other parents questioned the increase at registration, she was told to call the superintendent.

Marinosci said she paid the increase regardless, because summer school classes are filled on a first come, first serve basis. That is why she went first thing on the first day.

When she contacted the School Department, Marinosci was told individuals could be put on a payment plan.

“To me, it’s like anything else in Warwick,” said Marinosci, saying she feels it is common to be told a bill will be one amount only to find it higher.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me. It didn’t make sense to anyone,” said Marinosci, adding that no explanation for the cost increase was given, just that it happened.

The cost increase didn’t make sense to Ward 5 Councilman Edgar Ladouceur either. He received several phone calls regarding the tuition issue on Tuesday morning.

“They were told it would cost $220. They arrived at summer school this morning and were told, ‘oh, we changed it to $270 last night,’” said the councilman, who was not hiding his frustration with the situation.

Ladouceur questioned how the School Department could raise the cost on such short notice and not notify parents.

“They are arbitrarily raising the cost of summer school,” he said. “This is exactly the reason why I am bringing a transparency docket for the school department. They are not transparent.”

Ladouceur said he attended last Thursday’s School Committee meeting to hear specifically about the budget concerns but was kept out of the proceedings for two hours because discussions were in executive session. When the public was let in, they were told no budget items would be discussed. As a result, Ladouceur said he and many others simply left.

If summer school tuition increases were discussed at that meeting, Ladouceur does not know when.

“They said they were not discussing budget items. [Summer school tuition] is a budget item,” he said.

When reached for comment, Superintendent Dr. Richard D’Agostino said the cost increase was voted on during the June 27 School Committee meeting.

“The financial officer, Mr. Ferrucci, and the school district are looking for ways to trim expenses,” said D’Agostino. “And also looking for ways to increase revenue.”

According to meeting agenda documents obtained by the Beacon prior to the June 27 meeting, Anthony Ferrucci, chief budget officer, did send the recommendation for an increase of $50 per enrollee for summer school to D’Agostino.

The document says with an estimated 300 enrollees in Warwick summer school, the increase would result in an additional $15,000 in revenue.

In response to statements that the summer school tuition had already been increased recently, D’Agostino said that is not the case; the previous $220 cost had been in place for “many years,” according to the superintendent.

“We noticed the [summer school] tuition had not been raised in a long time,” said D’Agostino. “And even with the $50 increase, the cost is still comparable to other districts.”

D’Agostino admits that because of the late vote, there was no notice of the increase.

“As a result, it was not in the brochure the summer school principal sent out, I want to say, three or four weeks ago,” said D’Agostino.

He continued to say that no additional notice of the increase was attempted because of the late notice, so parents were notified as they came in for registration. It was also not posted on the school department’s website as of Tuesday but that process was underway.

When asked what will happen for parents that came in to pay one amount and may not have had an additional $50 if they were using a pre-written check or cash, D’Agostino said everyone would be taken care of.

“They can be billed for the rest. We will be looking at billing for that,” said D’Agostino. Additionally, he said a sliding scale would be applied to adjust costs based on income should the situation arise.

Marinosci said that the cost increase wasn’t her main issue with the situation.

“It’s fine,” she said. “If people are aware of it.”

When Gremour finally arrived at Pilgrim at 4 p.m. to register her son for his Algebra II class, she was told she could be put on a payment plan.

“I am thankful for that, I am,” she said, but adding that an additional $50 per person is still a lot to ask.

Gremour said she was told she would have until the end of summer school to complete payments.

Comments

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  • allent

    those milion dollar+ pensions don't fund themselves. get used to increases on everything.

    Thursday, July 4, 2013 Report this

  • Pmaloneyjr

    Ladouceur, you didn't vote to give the schools extra funding they needed, the money has to come from somewhere. The schools SHOULD have sent out an electronic communication to the students and parents. They could have used the Connect-Ed system to notify the students and parents that the cost would be going up.

    Thursday, July 4, 2013 Report this

  • davet1107

    Mr. Ladouceur, nor anyone else was "kept out" of the meeting. Mr. Ladouceur should be well aware that executive session meetings are not attended by the public. Further, if had read the agenda he would have seen that the budget was going to be discussed and had he sat through the entire meeting, as I and many others did, he would have known that summer school tuition was discussed and voted on. As far as people being told that budget issues were not going to be discussed, I would simply suggest that he and the others read the agenda. God only knows what his "transparency docket" entails. It's puzzling really, on a number of levels: a brand-new City Council member who doesn't understand schools and how they operate in the overall scheme of city governance and who sat through two nights of a pretty clear school budget presentation calling for "transparency"; and constituents of his who, when they have a problem with a school related issue, calls their elected City Council person but not their similarly elected School Committee member.

    Thursday, July 4, 2013 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Someone on the COUNCIL is decrying "transparency" issues at the SCHOOL department? Arent these the same people who fmr councilman Bob Cushman has said over and over wont address the true budget costs by adding in OPEB and true pension liabilities (terms I have only recently learned)?

    -

    What has Edgar Ladouceur done for transparency accountability of his OWN budget? Come on. we're all big boys and girls, lets see it all. get it independently audited and present a realistic picture so we can preserve whats left of our Warwick way of life. Good residents are moving out and it's not because of fifty bucks extra at summer school. We cant create a good future for Warwick by having sides take shots at the other side for stuff they themselves wont do.

    Friday, July 5, 2013 Report this

  • JohnStark

    If there are "...300 enrollees in Warwick summer school" and they are all high school students, it represents about 10% of the total high school enrollment. And since most of those are likely boys, a clarifying comment from the school department might be in order. Are we to conclude that upwards of 15% of Warwick's male high school students require summer school???

    Apparently, Mr. Ladouceur has not yet learned that every nickel requested by the schools, for any reason, is to be met with a requisite genuflect. As a product of the Dreaded Private Sector (DPS), and not a career politician, it's clear he needs to get on-board with what a former US Secretary of Education referred to as "The Blob".

    Sunday, July 7, 2013 Report this

  • Pmaloneyjr

    Not all of the students are Warwick Students. A portion are from other school systems. There is one cost for Warwick Students and a higher cost for non-Warwick Students.

    It is $270 for one 30 Hour Class. This comes to $9 per hour. This is a very reasonable price. I would prefer that if a student needs help that they attend the department nights that are available free after school. My daughter attended department nights several times a week at No additional cost.

    It costs approximately $9 an hour for a responsible babysitter, they are getting an education too.

    As far as being transparent, Mr Ladouceur, this item was discussed in open session at the school committee meeting. Have you attended a school committee meeting? You do not need a special invitation, educate yourself on a large portion of the Warwick Budget and attend a meeting to see where all the school money is going. Mr Ferrucci does a budget update at every meeting. You can attend the Warwick Parent Communication advisory committee meetings to and ask any question you want.

    Monday, July 8, 2013 Report this

  • MMXMonster

    "Comparable to other districts." REALLY??? Lets see about that...

    West Warwick

    Resident Fee $110 Non-Res $150 - Take two classes and its $250, still $20 less than Warwick.

    Cranston

    Resident Fee $200 Non-Res $225

    Someone needs to go back to school and brush up on their math skills. Maybe take a Summer class or two, But if they do I bet they would sign up in the W. Warwick Summer School classes.

    Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Report this