Toll Gate High School’s auditorium was filled to about three-quarters capacity for Tuesday’s school committee meeting, with the vast majority of those in attendance being teachers, and many voicing discontent.

Much of that discontent was to do with negotiations for an upcoming three-year contract between the Warwick Teachers Union (WTU) and the school’s administration.

Currently, the WTU and the administration have a one-year contract in place ending Aug. 31, 2024, which provided a 1.25 percent pay raise.

According to Greenwood Elementary School kindergarten teacher Patricia Mercurio, though, the raise that teachers received was less than those of other public employees, and was swallowed up by other costs.

“You can say you gave us a raise, but every single time, the health insurance goes up,” Mercurio said. “I see, myself, five specialists. My husband sees four, my son sees three. You add up all those copays, and I’m losing money this year.”

William McCaffrey, assistant superintendent said Wednesday that the co-pay on medical visits increased from $10 to $15 under the contract.

Winman Middle School teacher Jonathan Lautieri warned that unless the committee improves benefits it will have difficulty attracting qualified teachers. Earlier in the meeting, the announced that five teaching appointments had been declined throughout the district, alongside 27 new teaching appointments accepted.

Another major gripe that teachers had in the negotiations was a proposal to strike language regarding special education students, which many speakers argued would harm both special education and non-special education students.

Winman teachers Julie Connors-Costello and Jennifer Hartell said that some of their classes are currently over capacity, and have a higher ratio of special education to non-special education students than mandated in the current contract.

“Personally, I don’t want the money, I want the support for the people,” Connors-Costello said. “And just to follow the language in the contract, that is expected.”

The committee approved the curriculums for Algebra 1 and Pre-Algebra courses, while tabling the Computer Science curriculum due to unresolved questions about teacher training for the course.

Construction and Capital Projects director Steve Gothberg said that the vast majority of projects done over the summer had been completed. This includes the reopening of Sherman Elementary School and largescale renovations at Warwick Neck Elementary School, which Gothberg called “the most difficult project we dealt with this summer” and included

“They did an unbelievable job at Warwick Neck,” committee member Leah Hazelwood said. “I went there on a Monday, and it looked completely different by the time I came back on Thursday.”

The one major project left for Capital Projects is the installation of a generator and automatic transfer switch at Winman Middle School, as Gothberg said previous supplier Kohler “lied to us” about the switch. That project, according to Gothberg, will be completed over Christmas vacation.

The school committee approved contracts with Dell Marketing for computer hardware and B&H Photo and Electronics for industry-specific equipment within the Studio 107 program. These programs are funded through Perkins and Champlin grant funding, respectively, meaning they are at no cost to the school district. Other approved spending items include budgeted expenses for GemsNet science supplies in all thirteen elementary schools and a contract with Wilson Language for supplies for phonics and reading acquisition in grades K-2.

The department also approved a contract with Sherwin-Williams for new replacement tiles at Warwick Neck, which came out to $8,447.60. According to Director of Facilities and Operations Kevin Oliver, though, this was significantly lower than other estimates he received that totaled aroun $36,000.

The department also approved the purchase of new portable soccer goals and reconditioned helmets and shoulder pads. The cost of the helmets, according to Athletic Director Kenneth Rix, came out to $773 higher than his estimate due to additional repairs.

School committee chair Dave Testa acknowledged the turnout, telling those in attendance to also attend Monday’s city council meeting, which will likely determine whether funding is allocated to build two new high schools.

“If we can get one-third of this turnout for Monday, that would be great,” Testa said.