CAMPAIGN 2020

Bachus, Testa now uncontested

By LAURA WEICK
Posted 7/9/20

Two candidates have dropped out of the School Committee race, leaving the two incumbents unopposed for additional terms. According to Dottie McCarthy, director of the Board of Canvassers, Gary Costantino and Gregory Fraginis are the only

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CAMPAIGN 2020

Bachus, Testa now uncontested

Posted

Two candidates have dropped out of the School Committee race, leaving the two incumbents unopposed for additional terms.

According to Dottie McCarthy, director of the Board of Canvassers, Gary Costantino and Gregory Fraginis are the only two candidates to drop out from any citywide election so far this year. Two at-large seats are up for grabs during November’s general election, but with only School Committee Chairwoman Karen Bachus and member David Testa the only two candidates on the ballot, they are all but confirmed to earn an additional term. The three district seats, currently occupied by Judith Cobden, Nathaniel Cornell and Kyle Adams, will be up for grabs in 2022.

Costantino said that he ended his campaign because he is planning to join the Army National Guard. National Guard training typically lasts 10 weeks.

“I chose to drop out because with the Army National Guard, and if I leave I’ll be leaving in October for training,” Costantino said. “I’d probably go to Fort Benning in Georgia or Fort Jackson in South Carolina. I wouldn’t be able to dedicate enough time during and after that to the committee.”

Costantinio said that he chose to run because he was always interested in public affairs. He wanted to bridge the gap between the city and school department, describing them as “frequently missing connections.” He also believes that the school department is too administrator focused, and planned to address this if he were to be elected.

Costantino did not speak about Testa, but did speak favorably about Bachus.

“I really believe Karen [Bachus] and I share the same views. Sometimes she makes decisions that are difficult but I really feel like her heart is in the right place, and that’s the reason she’s been on as long as she’s been on.”

After completing National Guard training, Costantino said he’d consider running for School Committee again in the future, or possibly City Council instead.

Fraginis initially decided to run for the School Committee because he has two young children, one in first grade and another entering the school system soon. However, he dropped out because he realized he couldn’t commitment the time to be on the committee.

“I heard about the deadline to put in to run a couple of weeks before and made a quick decision to just make a shot and do it, but the more I thought about it I realized it was not the time to do it,” Fraginis said.

Another reason that Fraginis withdrew his candidacy was because he did not realize that this year’s election regarded at-large seats and not district seats, and he had hoped to run for a district seat. He also said that obtaining the required number of signatures for an elected office was a challenge, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fragini said the biggest challenge that he has seen regarding Warwick’s schools is the relationships between the School Committee and Town Council, as well as the relationship between the committee, the district and teachers. 

“I know the people who are running right now seem knowledgeable, they’re making decisions that they think are right,” Fragini said. “But there are other people on the committee that I’m not sure about. I don’t want to say that I support anyone in particular because I don’t think the school department’s going in the right direction, but at the same time I think there’s tough decisions that have to be made.”

Testa said that he didn’t have any specific thoughts regarding the candidates’ withdrawals. He did not know that they dropped out until the Warwick Beacon contacted him about the matter.

“It is what it is.” Testa said. “There is a big time commitment for this job. Everyone makes decisions based on their own situations.”

Bachus said that it was a relief to not worry about campaigning while leading the School Committee through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It will provide continuity, and we can focus on the schools instead of splitting our focus on running campaigns and working on the issues,” Bachus said. “So that will be helpful. It’s such a big year already with COVID-19, so now we can have our full attention on that.”

As of Wednesday, July 8, Mayor Joseph Solomon and former School Committee Chairman Frank Picozzi, both running for mayor, had the 200 signatures needed to be certified as candidates in any of the citywide elections.

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