While students in Warwick Public Schools will go back to school on September 6, the district has spent the summer making preparations for the upcoming academic year.

For the 2023-34 school year, the district will welcome a cohort of 92 new staff members including 7 new administrators, 67 new teachers and 18 new teachers assistants.

Superintendent Lynn Dambruch said that this year’s vacancies are “a little elevated due to a lot of retirements” and added teacher positions. She explained that last year, they had 52 vacancies to fill.

“I think the people are just getting to the age of retirement,” Dambruch added. “I think you’re going to see an increase in retirement over the next few years.”

She added that the district is “pretty much on track” to fill these vacancies. They still have 12 more teacher positions to fill and they’re currently holding interviews for the last administration position at the Early Learning Center.

The other administrators have been hired, two who grew up in the Warwick education system. Sarah Lapointe, incoming Assistant Principal of Climate and Culture at Warwick Veterans Middle School, graduated from Vets High School, and Meghan Maguire, incoming Assistant Principal of Climate and Culture at Pilgrim High School, graduated from Toll Gate High School.

Matthew Yates, incoming Principal at Oakland Beach Elementary School, is a Warwick resident.

Bill McCaffrey, Assistant Superintendent, said that it’s an “asset” to have administrators who are familiar with Warwick. He said it’s also inspiring that these individuals pursued education and are coming back.

“They know the community,” he said. “They know the families and the challenges within the schools.”

Other new administrators include Jeffrey Goss, principal at Warwick Veterans Middle School, Ryan Rafanelli, principal at Wyman Elementary School and Erick Pagan principal at Lippitt Elementary School.

Dambruch added that as the district fills positions, they can more accurately calculate the breakage, the money saved between 10th step teachers and those entering the system.

“Because we needed to fill more teacher vacancies this year, our breakage number will go up,” Dambruch added.

McCaffrey said  breakage was anticipated in the budget, but the exact amount has yet to be finalized.

At the same time the district is interviewing for new staff positions, it is projecting enrollment for the upcoming school year. According to McCaffrey, so far they have just under 8,000 students enrolled in the district.

Dambruch and McCaffrey explained if a parent or guardian wishes to register their student for the 2023-24 school year, they should visit the Warwick Public School website and click on the registration option. If it is the parent’s first time registering, the parent will have to create a login and fill out online forms before scheduling an appointment with central registration. At that point, they bring all of their documents to finalize the registration process.

David Testa, Chairman of the School Committee, said that parents and guardians can register “whenever they move into the city.”