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These cuts are 100% the fault of the Thornton Administration and they should be FIRED! They have trapped the current school committee and city council with the allure of high priced headlines and expensive programs the city can not afford, for years!

I went through the archives and looked at Warwick Schools articles over the Thornton Administration's term. Overspending has been happening since he arrived!

Year 1 (2015-2016)

A consultant was hired to show Warwick needs more administrators, even though they are closing schools. A consultant also used by Thornton to add administrative positions in Cumberland.

Here is a list of the administrative positions that have been added, that did not exist, since Phil started in Warwick.

Chief Academic Officer (130k+)

Director of Curriculum (110k+)

Director of Technology (110k+)

Coordinator of Technology Applications (100k+)

Coordinator of Teaching and Learning (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Pilgrim (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Warwick Vets (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Toll Gate (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Winman (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Climate and Culture Vets (100k+)

Assistant Principal of Climate and Culture Winman (100k+)

Some of these may be renamed positions but I think most, if not all, are NEW! It was hard to determine exactly how many positions were added, Warwick Public Schools is about as transparent as a brick wall. Salaries are estimates and don’t even include benefits.

I saw where the Warwick School Committee hired an auditor to refute claims of administration over-staffing. The whole situation was clouded by questions about the auditor not being independent. Questions were raised and never answered. It wouldn’t surprise me if the auditor was fraudulent and wasted more tax-payer dollars. Auditor credentials were never listed.

With decreases in population and consolidation on the horizon, you can make an argument that these positions should have never been created in the first place. That's well over a million dollars in administration added in a couple of years.

This year also includes a public relations firm and expensive lawyers that tried and failed to break the unions.

Year 2 (2016-2017)

Even though the SMMA consolidation report listed all the urgent facility issues with the schools, the Thornton Administration decided to redo auditoriums and entry doors.

Then later in the year, when the fire alarm systems fail, steam pipes break, air quality is questioned, and roofs leak... unbudgeted emergency spending needs to happen or the schools can't open. How convenient, now the Thornton Administration gets both and the burden is put on the Warwick taxpayers.

Maybe we just need a bond which I'm sure will have a great impact on the Warwick tax bill. Voters never go against bonds for schools and they knew that. Thornton is a crisis profiteer.

It's all about headlines with the Thornton Administration, a picture of a new fire alarm box just doesn't get the clicks.

You can also include an expensive security system called Mutual Link. I'm not sure what it does but it's never mentioned again after an article in the Beacon... but it's still budgeted.

Year 3 (2017-2018)

Chromebooks for every student, grades 6-12. Even though there are no research reports or case studies that show this type of learning works, Warwick was full steam ahead. The hiring of coaches and technicians to support the initiative. Again, it's a nice headline. Wow, Warwick is ahead of everyone else. What they didn't tell the community is they had no idea how to pay for this moving forward.

When it happens, the Thornton Administration gets all the applause. When the city can't afford the financial burden, the city council are the bad guys. They get the negative press for the Thornton Administration's lack of planning.

Where're the results?? If this expensive alternative approach to learning is effective, we should be competitive on RICAS and SAT. We're not though, if we were in Massachusetts, we would be near the bottom on RICAS and are near the bottom on SAT performance.

You can also add Promethean boards in every classroom. Wow, what a headline! What they didn't tell you is the boards run an old software and will be useless in a few years. Where was the research? Where are the case studies?

This is the year they also added middle school sports. That's fantastic, who doesn't like sports for kids. What they didn't tell you, is that a much less expensive intramural program would have been more responsible considering the yearly cost. Again, city council are the bad guys for having to take it away. There is just simply a lack of financial planning at the school department.

This year also includes the Cedar Hill controversy and the Gorton Administration Building renovations and air conditioning, those numbers were never released to the public.

Year 4 (2018-2019)

Teacher contract raises are coming into effect from a contract negotiated and signed by the Thornton Administration. If you couldn't afford the raises then why did you agree to them??? I have to admit, "Teacher Contract Settled" is a great headline!

Consolidation savings disappear in a blink of an eye. If there is one line item that should have decreased significantly, it should have been the supplies line item. You take the supplies from the closing schools and use them in the schools that are still open, pure logic. However, the supply and program line items have increased in the last 2 years. Where did all that stuff go? Dumpsters?

Elementary students are getting a new science program and health! The cost looked reasonable in the article but then I read closer and that was just two grade levels. So, the cost will only continue to rise each year as more grade-levels get added. Remember that when the school department is asking for millions over budget, next year.

There is also a math and English purchase on the way. Maybe it just isn't the right time to make these moves with the budget in such disarray.

This year also includes the sunbutter and accounting controversies. It's been a banner year.

My point with this whole exercise is that many of the decisions by the Thornton Administration, over the last 4 years, have been luxury items. Nice to have but not needed.

They have completely failed on the necessities and now the school department and the city are in financial trouble. The school department will get bailed out by the bond which will shift the burden to the taxpayers but what about the city? I sincerely believe that the Thornton Administration does not care about the future of the city of Warwick or its students. They only care about making themselves look good in the media and passing the blame to the current school committee or city council.

Most of them don’t live here and have no accountability to Warwick citizens. They were not elected and had their contracts renewed by a lame duck School Committee after failing our students for most of their 1st contract.

The Thornton Administration needs to be held accountable for the decisions they've made. The city council should have complete oversight on how the school department spends tax-payer dollars.