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It is amazing that people are in denial. The previous Long Term Committee reported that Warwick had TOO MANY schools. This hired consultant is reporting the same thing- & that Warwick has the largest excess capacity the consultant has seen; excess capacity COSTS money. Look at the facts: 1) declining enrollment 2) declining population 3) Limited tax base-you can't increase taxes on a declining population to cover the cost shortfall. What does Warwick want/desire; a good educational system with good offerings OR the system "as is" with at least 6 extra school buildings to maintain? One can deny what is/has been occurring over the past 15 years & one can blame private schools(if Warwick provided better educational programs it wouldn't make a difference how many private schools it had to compete with) but the situation "is what it is". Warwick has the same/similar problems as other districts including the number of special education students it needs to serve. In a preferable world, we would desire to provide for a 1:1 teacher to student education ratio with all the modern technological gadgets to make learning more pleasant; but that doesn't exist. So we, hopefully, provide the best possible education that our limited tax dollars can efficiently buy. I believe that means that Warwick needs to close some schools, looking at all factors including additional transportation costs that likely will be incurred. The School Committee/Community should view each option to determine the best way to achieve the best education that can be provided with a minimum of disruptive effects on the present school system.
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