The four candidates vying for the two at large seats on the Warwick School Committee are hearing voter concerns over how new Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools will impact taxes and to a lesser extent excitement over what the schools will mean for kids and future generations.

Incumbent Dave Testa, who is looking for a third 4-year term, said the relatively few interactions he has had while campaigning “have been positive overall.” He’s hearing some rumblings, which he largely attributes to social media and claims that schools can’t be built for $350 million.

Incumbent Karen Bachus and first time School Committee candidates Zachary Colón and Sean Wiggins are hearing concerns over the cost of the new schools as well. Thanks to scores of supporters he had once coached as members of youth basketball, baseball and soccer teams, Wiggins has covered more of the city than other candidates. Yet, he concludes, “It’s really just a smidge.”

Going door to door Wiggins has met homeowners who find nothing has changed since they were Pilgrim and Toll Gate students 40 and 50 years ago and recognize the need for new schools.

“We really need new environments and to help them learn,” said Wiggins.

Testa chairs the School Building Committee and has been actively involved in the development of the new schools leading up to voter approval of the $350 million bond in 2022 to build them; now he is engaged in the finalization of plans to build them. A ground breaking is scheduled for next March and the schools to open in time for the 2027-28 academic year.

Testa said he promised voters two schools for $350 million and “we’re going to have them.” As for paying off the cost of building the schools, Testa is encouraged by the reduction in Federal Reserve rates that reduce bond borrowing and significantly trim the long term impact of debt retirement on future city budgets. There is no ambiguity as to why Testa is in the race.

“I’d like to do one more term and see the high schools through,” he said.

Testa is not alone on focusing on the new high schools.

Getting what we were told

Having served 12 years on the committee, Bachus wants to see that Warwick gets what it was told it would get with the $350 million bond.

That’s hard to precisely define since conceptual plans and drawings were used in promoting the bond. A lot has changed since then with inflation. Solar panels that had been proposed as a means of reducing utility costs have been scraped and the overall square footage of the schools reduced to trim costs.

Bachus is encouraged by the special August meeting devoted to a report on the progress of the schools. “Hopefully that will continue.”

Colón, 25, a Toll Gate grad and soon-to-be father, finds people concerned that the city is getting the best they can for the $350 million. Colón, who survived the September primary to be on the ballot, sat through the special meeting where Chris Spiegel, a member of LeftField Project Management, reviewed plans for the schools. He likes what he has seen and points out he has a vested interest for his child in not only school buildings but more importantly what happens in them.

Planks in his platform include universal pre-K and an expansion of career and tech programs.

“It’s a lottery,” Colón said of the limited number of children accepted into the pre-K program at the Warwick Early Learning Center at John Brown Francis. He would like it if parents didn’t have to worry about child care costs and young children could develop socially and emotionally and gain “an understanding of how to be friends.”

Turning to high school aged students, Colón would like to see more career and technical programs, such as ones in artificial intelligence and in medical fields. Not only does he feel that would keep kids in Warwick schools thereby reducing out of district tuition costs but also engage them as learners. He suggests that middle school students visit the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center as part of a program introducing them to the next level of learning.

In the primary, Colón focused on getting out 2,000 letters to those with a history of voting in primaries. He found it effective as he got feedback from many recipients.  He doesn’t have the resources to do mass mailings or to pepper the city with signs. Wiggins appears to hold the edge on the most signs.

Nonetheless, Colón is excited as a prospective father, saying “there’s even better reason to run.”

How have schools changed?

As incumbents Testa and Bachus offer the perspective of having worked with multiple school administrations. They agree Warwick is in a good place.

“We’re light years ahead on curriculum,” said Testa, adding that elementary students are being taught the things they will be tested on. He’s encouraged by grants that enable outdoor learning and new systems of teaching where students are working cooperatively and no longer confined to rows of desks. “We’re finally catching up,” he said.

He’s not so positive when it comes to secondary schools. He refers to “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, a book he is reading that makes a direct correlation between smartphones, social media and helicopter parenting to the depression, anxiety and stress experienced by teens. He called it the “wreckage of that is what schools have to deal with.”

Apart from delivering the new schools on budget and with a learning environment, Testa sees the challenge as keeping the department talent and doing more.

“We should be a much higher performing district. I think we’re on the right path. [The improvements of] K-8 has to translate into high schools,” he said.

“I think we have a very good administration right now that cares,” said Bachus. She is a fan of Superintendent Lynn Dambruch who she called “amazing.” Personally should she be reelected Bachus said she would like to focus more on wellness programs and teaching students about food.

Bachus called elementary school scores “better than ever.”

“I think things are looking up,” she said, “The schools have come a long way in 12 years.”

Wiggins applauded School Committee Chair Shaun Galligan for the Aug. 21 public meeting devoted to the new high schools and his commitment for periodic updaters on construction. Wiggins places transparency high on his priorities, saying members of the school committee need to build community relationships including dialogue with members of the City Council, the mayor and state officials. As a former coach and outgoing president of Warwick North Little League, Wiggins believes athletics and activities are important.

“Sports and activities are an incredible part of education…I’m living it right now” he said.