By a 4-1 vote Tuesday Warwick School Committee approved a revised budget for fiscal year 2024 cutting $1.4 million in expenditures. The committee started off recognizing   Oakland Beach kindergarten teacher Milissa O’Neil, as teacher of the year and awarding citations to 41 students.

The City Council and the mayor allocated $185.9 million for schools, $1.4 million less than what the committee requested. In order to balance its budget the committee approved all of the administration’s recommended cuts with a few changes including only cutting $8,250 of the recommended $30,000 for the SandPro, a machine used to maintain fields. To make up the difference, the committee voted to cut consciousness discipline training for teaching assistants at the Warwick Early Learning Center and reduce employee assistance by $6,000.

On Tuesday House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said Warwick schools would receive an additional $750,000 in state aid for a total of $45.89 million as compared to $41.87 million in aid last year.

David Testa, Chairman, said that even with additional funding, the committee still needed to be prepared for $1.4 million in cuts. He explained last year, there was an agreement if the district received increased state aid, the city  would reduce its allocation accordingly.

 “What we did last night is what we had to do,” Testa added.

Testa said throughout the process, he erred on the side of trusting the administration’s recommendations.

“At the end of the day, the administration put things together based on what they feel is best educationally for students,” he said.

Karen Bachus was the only committee member to reject the proposed budget. She disagreed with the decision to fund the SandPro, viewing it as a want, not a need. “I want us to put money where it's going to do the most good,” she added, arguing that groundskeepers can continue to maintain the fields with their current equipment.

Darlene Netcoh, president of the teacher’s union and a teacher in the Warwick Public School district for 33 years, gave public comment following the decision, expressing frustration with what was ultimately prioritized.

“I understand that the SandPro is necessary for the proper raking of the fields but is it more necessary than a program that is going to help the TAs work with the behavioral issues of the preschoolers?” she asked.

Anna Conti, a teacher at WELC, also disagreed with the cut. She described how important conscious discipline, a type of social emotional learning, is in the classroom.

“It has made tremendous changes for our students,” Conti said. “To think that our littlest learners, our special education students are missing out on this incredible opportunity to have the people who are working closest with them be trained in this program so that we can get some field equipment, it really breaks my heart.”

Committee member Leah Hazelwood justified the decision, explaining the cut was only of the training, not of the discipline as a whole. She clarified that teachers have been trained in consciousness discipline for the past 5 years and know the program well.

Testa, who originally voted against funding the SandPro, added that there probably is a way to make up for the training if there is substantial demand. He said that the WELC is getting a new principal who will be able to either reinstate that training or make a new one.

“A budget isn’t a static thing,” Testa added. “It constantly changes during the school year.”

Netcoh criticized the way the committee handled this process. She said that they used to hold space for public comment after administration comment and during the committee deliberation. Netcoh said that “if the public had been allowed to speak during this session about consciousness discipline, maybe you would have had some different facts in front of you.”

The approved budget cuts also included the elimination of a few positions including 1.5 custodians, the Assistant Director of Curriculum and an occupational therapist, totaling $229,193.

Dr. Lisa Schultz, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, proposed to cut the Assistant Director of Curriculum position because she “did not want to cut anything that was of an absolute necessity to our students.”

“Do I think it’s an ideal situation?” Dr. Schultz added. “Absolutely not. But I’m willing to do what it takes to make this district succeed. I will do whatever is necessary, and if that includes reducing staff, then we have to do what we have to do.”

Educational programming and resources also took a hit. For instance, they cut $10,000 for an iPad program at WELC, $22,000 for math interventionist supplies and $54,000 for “tech stuff.”

The meeting also featured recognition of  students and faculty. Thirty-eight  Warwick Area Career & Technical Center students medaled in SkillsUSA with 18 receiving gold medals. Two students, Elizabeth Cavanagh and Cooper Payne received Lieutenant Governor Leadership Award, and Solange Daluz was named the Rhode Island Foreign Language Association Student of the Year.

Milissa O’Neil, was awarded the District Teacher of the Year. Oakland Beach Principal Paul Heatherton said O’Neil creates “a true school family where every member, including the student, plays a vital role in the learning.”

O’Neil thanked her family, friends and fellow teachers for making her experience with the Warwick Public Schools so positive. “They believed in me and challenged me to be my best,” she said.

Inspired by her own first grade teacher, O’Neil decided she “wanted to be that teacher who makes a difference in the lives of children and instills the love of learning.”

“Teaching is my forever passion,” she said.