To the Editor,

According to the General Laws of Rhode Island, the number one duty of a school committee is: “To identify educational needs in the community”.

Based on the low student test scores documented by Bob Grant, the members of the Warwick School Committee have some explaining to do.(“School presentation a good start, yet so many questions”, Dec. 14) Specifically, what are they doing to identify, and remedy, the reasons for these lousy educational test scores? Clearly, something needs to be done.

Warwick taxpayers spend $20,568 per pupil each year. And yet, according to Mr. Grant, on any given day, almost one third of the students are absent from class. It’s no wonder scores are so low.

What is the School Committee’s response to this situation? Should we be building two new high schools if only two thirds of the enrolled students are going to show up?

In a recent interview with John Howell, the two contenders for committee chairman talked about construction and contracts, but had nothing to say about their plans to improve academic achievement. (“Galligan looks to unseat Testa as school chair”, Dec. 28)

I’m certain Mr. Howell would give both Shaun Galligan and David Testa the opportunity to address those issues in print. I hope we hear from both gentlemen soon.

A. H. Liddle

Warwick