Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK, R.I. -- With the City Council refusing to increase the local share of school spending for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, school officials have spent the final days of this month finding ways to trim about $4.1 million from their $165-plus million budget for the coming fiscal year.

The School Committee had asked the city to increase the local appropriation for education from the current $123.9 million to $128 million, but the council earlier this month said no, stressing that taxpayers could not afford it.

School administrators were able to make up most of the $4.1 million loss by eliminating the school district's plan to repay the city $2.9 million next year to cover past school operating deficits. They also scrapped a plan to put aside $500,000 every year to pay for its own bond projects.

Some additional savings were found in the dental insurance and workmen's compensation accounts, but about $554,000 in cuts were still needed when the School Committee met Tuesday night.

And it turned out to be a difficult task for a school district that is continuing to lose state aid at a time when it is trying to meet increasingly rigorous graduation standards set by the state.

In the end, the school board opted to not to spend about $300,000 to increase the number of coordinators responsible for overseeing senior projects and the electronic portfolios that are part of the new graduation requirements.

The move -- which some committee members said they are worried will place an undue burden on three graduation coordinators who work at each of the city's high schools -- prompted vigorous objections from some secondary teachers and administrators.

They warned that Warwick may be jeopardizing its ability to meet the state standards and contended that the School Committee does not understand the long work days that the coordinators have trying to get seniors ready to graduate as they have to complete projects that are new to them and new to the district.

Committee member Paul Cannistra and Chairman Christopher Friel voted against the cut in funding for more coordinators, but other board members said they just could not justify increasing staff at during a time of such financial difficulty.

The board did unanimously agree, however, to have the administration talk with the Warwick Teachers Union and see if a pilot program could be launched that would involve teachers acting as additional graduation coordinators on an annual rotation.

The school board made up the rest of the difference it needed to reconcile with the City Council's figures by relying on the same account it balanced the current year budget on: supplies and services.

The committee cut supplies and services by about $251,000. Some school board members said they have received numerous calls from parents who are alarmed by the shortage of basic supplies in the schools, but administrators said the district would be able to manage.

The budget approved by the committee Tuesday, eliminates the family and consumer science program at the city's three high schools. The committee voted to restore marine science at the high schools.

 Tags  budget schools Warwick RI

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