'Productive' meeting, say schools, city

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 9/25/18

By ETHAN HARTLEY School and city officials, including Superintendent Philip Thornton, Mayor Joseph Solomon, City Council President Steve Merolla and School Committee Chairwoman Bethany Furtado met on Monday morning to continue discussions regarding the

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'Productive' meeting, say schools, city

Posted

School and city officials, including Superintendent Philip Thornton, Mayor Joseph Solomon, City Council President Steve Merolla and School Committee Chairwoman Bethany Furtado met on Monday morning to continue discussions regarding the school’s ongoing budget crisis, with both sides indicating that the meeting was productive.

Thornton said the parties intended on meeting again and that it was encouraging that both sides were “actively communicating.” Furtado said she was “hopeful that we can come to an agreement.”

Merolla confirmed that another meeting had been scheduled between the sides, saying that, “Both sides are working hard to reach consensus on significant issues regarding funding and spending for this fiscal year and for future fiscal years.”

Through a statement, Mayor Solomon said, “Following today’s meeting with Superintendent Thornton, School Committee Chairwoman Furtado and Council President Merolla, lines of communication remain open and the dialogue productive towards moving in a positive direction. I am hopeful that we will continue to work together for the benefit of our students and the community at large.”

The meeting occurred following school and city officials coming to an agreement to postpone a presentation of the school department’s programmatic audit that concluded in August that was originally scheduled for last week. The two sides are scheduled to meet again during the Oct. 1 meeting of the City Council for the originally-scheduled presentation.

The audit showed that Warwick school need a minimum of $4 million in additional city funding to meet its legal, contractual and regulatory requirements for the current fiscal year. Thus far Mayor Solomon has proposed reallocating $1.75 million from the road paving account to schools.

Comments

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  • CrickeeRaven

    It is refreshing to see the actual leaders in Warwick expressing their intention to work together to resolve the school funding issue, far different from the two-time mayoral election loser, who has regularly and falsely accused the school committee of "extortion" and "blackmail."

    His pathetic behavior has not, and will not, have any effect on how these actual elected leaders eventually reach a resolution.

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • Cat2222

    I was wondering how things would progress with new players in new positions. I still think this is exactly why the council low-balled their budget offer to the school. It gives a lot of negotiating room despite the threat of a law suit. This has given everyone a chance to review the audit and make their own assessments. I hope it is a good sign of how both sides will work in the future. Anything less than compromise will set us right back to page 1.No one wants that.

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Once a "real" audit is done by "real" auditors, then we will know the "real" true story. I heard this from the "real" taxpayers mayer.

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • SCOT63

    CrickeeRaven you just can't help yourself with your continuous BULLYING of Mr Corrente leave the man alone and keep your comments to yourself!!!! give it a break!!! YOU COWARD as Mr Corrente describes you!!!!

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    SCOT, can you tell me:

    Which one of us, between me and the two-time loser, accused the school committee of extortion and blackmail?

    Which one of us insists that a third-party independent audit performed and published every year is somehow not legitimate?

    Which one of us insists that CPAs should give their opinions on a program audit conducted under state education law?

    Which one of us demands that the school department not get "one more dime" based on his delusional ideas and false accusations?

    Hint: It's not me.

    And, really, "leave the man alone" -- ?!

    As if he hasn't run [and lost] twice, which makes him -- and let me say this really slowly for you:

    a

    public

    figure

    Maybe you should demand that he stops his pathetic behavior on this website and further proves how correct thousands of honest, taxpaying voters and I were to reject his candidacy on Sept. 12.

    Or, you know, don't. What you say matters to me as much as his juvenile name-calling:

    Zero.

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • SCOT63

    CrickeeRaven Maybe you should finally not mention His name when it's not involved..

    But you can't seem to let it go!!! talk about juvenile

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • Cat2222

    "keep your comments to yourself" SCOT63 says while commenting on a comment made my a commentor!

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    I'll just mark you down as "against evidence that the two-time loser keeps lying," SCOT.

    The only reason you're upset is that I've pre-empted his inevitable repetition of those falsehoods about the school committee.

    I'm sure he'll be along any time now to call names and say his version of reality is right.

    Or maybe he won't comment this time. That would sure prove me wrong about his inability to keep from making a fool of himself on this website.

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear readers,

    Let's look at the positive side. The right people are now involved. Finally. As much as I disagree with Joe Solomon about other matters, he does have a degree in accounting and he is an attorney. He should be able to decipher the pros and cons of the so-called independent audit. What he does next will be telling. Having an attorney, Steve Merolla, as City Council President also involved helps.

    I maintain that the present "independent" audit is anything BUT independent. I will be looking to see the results of this meeting and I applaud the efforts of all involved so far. They are working on a solution. That's step one.

    Dear CrickeeRaven,

    You're right that it is refreshing to see the actual leaders expressing their intention. Avedisian's administration had a "hands-off" policy. For the record, I would have done the same thing Solomon is presently doing. Communication.

    Dear SCOT63,

    Thank you for your supportive comment.

    CrickeeRaven chose a name that is a combination of a cricket and a raven. Doesn't that decision speak volumes as to the kind of person he/she is? You chose "SCOTT". I'll bet that's your name. I chose "Richard Corrente" because I want to be completely clear as to who I am. CrickeeRaven hides behind a very warped, bizarre fake name. That action speaks for itself. Loudly.

    Thanks again SCOT.

    Happy Autumn everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    See, SCOT? Didn't I tell you the two-time loser would be along to post more of his delusional comments?

    Take this one:

    "I maintain that the present 'independent' audit is anything BUT independent."

    Too bad for the two-time loser, as it's not up to him to decide whether the program audit was independent.

    [Under the law, it was.]

    Or this:

    "Avedisian's administration had a 'hands-off' policy."

    This one is a lie. The two-time loser knows that Mayor Avedisian was involved in the recent contract negotiations, even hosting the final several mediation sessions. That's not "hands-off."

    Or this:

    "For the record, I would have done the same thing Solomon is presently doing. Communication."

    Let's review what the two-time loser actually did, as the record of this website shows: Falsely accuse the school committee of extortion and blackmail and insist that their annual audits are not legitimate. That's not communication, SCOT.

    So, see, SCOT? The two-time loser did just what I predicted he would: Engage in name-calling, lies, and juvenile behavior -- and did you notice, he didn't even spell your screen name correctly?

    But go ahead, keep encouraging him to prove how correct thousands of honest, taxpaying voters were in rejecting his candidacy twice.

    Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Great post Raven. I also am encouraged that there's not acrimony between the sides and that they are talking and working with each other. Great!

    I don't question the audits. The policies are the area where we can make best efforts to educate our students properly but find efficiencies where available.

    I look forward to the best possible outcome from this process.

    Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Report this