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Mr. Testa is correct when he states, "the guy in the Warwick School Dept who is in charge of facilities stated at a public hearing FIVE YEARS AGO that due to declining enrollment, Warwick should have been closing schools FIVE YEARS AGO....that means TEN YEARS ago we should have been closing schools".

The school committee recognized that consolidation was necessary ten years ago. However there was little that could be done back then due to the fact that from 2003 - 2006 not having a school teacher contract for almost 4 years made it impossible to even consider the issue.

Back in December of 2006, 3 months after the contract has finally been ratified, I stated in my last meeting as Chairman of the school committee, "With some type of expansion of T.F. Green Airport likely, leading to the loss of homes and reduced student population around the airport and referencing the May 15, 2006 New England School Development Council report to the school department documenting the projected decrease in Warwick student enrollment of 1,028 students or 8.9% from 2005 through 2010", school consolidation needed to occur.

And that is exactly what occurred in the subsequent years with the closing of 4 elementary schools. Now with those reduced elementary students finally reaching the secondary levels, consolidation in Warwick's junior and senior high schools in also necessary.

The problem I see in this city is that many of the people sticking their heads out of the proverbial hole in the sand now complaining about consolidation, do not have a clue as to the budgetary issues that have been facing the school department over the last decade.

I hate to repeat myself on these blogs but for the sake of the ill informed, please review the local property tax allocation between the city and school budget over the last 6 years.

Local tax dollars to support city budget:

2008 - $67,056,675

2009 - $76,149,571

2010 - $78,525,638

2011 - $79,566,667

2012 - $93,836,460 ($14.3 million increase from previous year)

2013 - $96,383,368 (projected)

2014 - $99,568,368 (Mayor proposed budget)

Local tax dollars to support school budget:

2008 - $118,064,827

2009 - $118,064,827

2010 - $123,968,468 (federal stimulus dollars)

2011 - $125,010,374 (federal stimulus dollars)

2012 - $118,171,303

2013 - $118,644,632 (projected)

2014 - $118,644,632 (Mayor proposed budget)

In the 2012 fiscal year alone, $14.3 million more in local revenue was all allocated to the city budget while $6.8 million or 5% of the school budget was cut. The Mayor and the council took the $6.8 million and allocated it to the city budget.

In 2007 63.9% of local tax dollars supported schools and 36.1% the city. Today the ratio is 54.4% schools and 45.6% city. With city spending reaching new all-time highs each year, that ratio will continue to move towards a 50/50 split. According to education experts I have spoken to anywhere from a 65/35 or 60/40 split is more the norm.

My point is that the issue of school consolidation comes down to not only properly utilizing school building, but also how as a city do we intend to fund the educational needs of our children in Warwick into the future? Clearly our Mayor and most of the City Councilors have turned their backs on our students.

Right now consolidation is the only means that school leaders can use to invest in current infra-structure by taking the savings from closed schools and allocating it towards current needs. But that simply will not be enough to meet long term educational needs..

The bottom line as many have alluded to is that a sustainable long term plan to meet the educational needs of our children is needed. That will require millions of dollars of new property tax dollars investments by city leaders in existing or newly constructed schools.

However to do that, will require a long term plan on the city side of the budget to control its spiraling pension and lifetime healthcare costs. Unfortunately I do not give much hope that the current Mayor and city council as it stands will ever think long term and develop this plan because to do so will require major reforms by them to control spending associated with retired employee benefits. When over 50 cents of every new tax dollar allocated to the city budget over the last ten years, pays for pension and free lifetime healthcare for retired employees and less than 6 cents of every new dollar is allocated to non-personnel related city expenses, something needs to change.

Mr. Savage and those who are opposed to consolidation, please take a look at this document I prepared that compares the city and school budgets over the last ten years. Then let me know how we can ever properly support the Warwick School system without consolidation while this current model of spending continues.

Right now the school deparment is on its own and with Warwick voters continuing to elect the same people into the Mayor's office and on the city council that is unlikely to change in the near future.

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From: Consolidation of high schools would be a mistake

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