LETTERS

School cost comparisons and a ‘bigger issue’

Posted 9/29/15

Open letter to Jennifer Ahearn, chair Warwick School Committee:

Thank you for speaking with me Tuesday night (9/15). You were very busy and I appreciated your gracious manner. You will recall we …

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LETTERS

School cost comparisons and a ‘bigger issue’

Posted

Open letter to Jennifer Ahearn, chair Warwick School Committee:

Thank you for speaking with me Tuesday night (9/15). You were very busy and I appreciated your gracious manner. You will recall we spoke about the comparison of Warwick school data vs. Cranston and Providence and you asked me to write to you as to my findings. As promised I have retrieved the data I compiled on the three school departments of Providence, Cranston and Warwick. Although it is current as of seven months ago it is as follows:

1. Students – Warwick 9,100 Cranston 10,300 Providence 23,200

2. Budget – Warwick $160,000,000 Cranston $140,000,000 Providence $346,000,000

3. Percent of capacity – Warwick 38% under, Cranston at or above, Providence 9% under capacity

4. Money from state – Warwick $36,400,000 Cranston $51,000,000 Providence 215,000,000

5. Net budget Warwick $123,600,000 Cranston $89,000,000 Providence $131,000,000

6. Number of students Warwick 9,100 Cranston 10,300 Providence 23,200

7. Cost per student Warwick $17,582 Cranston $13,592 Providence $14,923

8. Cost per student (net) Warwick $13,582 Cranston $8,641 Providence $5,646

As you can see, Warwick has an extremely high cost per student no matter how you look at it.

But there is another issue. One that pains me greatly.

On Tuesday night (9/15) after we talked about the above I asked you about “The Ragosta

Report.” I asked you why the City Council and the mayor were denied a copy of it. You told me, “Because there is no written report. It was all verbal.” That is a direct quote.

This morning, Sept. 17, from 11 a.m.. to 11:28 a.m.. I spoke with Attorney Vincent Ragosta. He told me in no uncertain words that there is, and has been since May 2015, a written report transcribed by Allied Court Reporters and submitted to you personally.

I then called Allied Court Reporters at 401-946-5500 and a gentleman who answered the phone confirmed that the “interviews were transcribed on May 1 and a typed transcription was sent to Attorney Ragosta on May 4, 2015.”

In my 28-minute long conversation with Attorney Ragosta he said to me, “The School Department absolutely has a typed report!” “I was outraged at how dismissive they responded!” He also stated “People should be screaming from the rooftops about how badly this was handled!” He then went on to repeat some of his discussion with Superintendent D ’Agostino. He didn’t repeat any of the sensitive information but he did say “When I questioned him (D ’Agostino) about an e-mail he received from the mother of the 13 year old girl who had a teacher draw a penis on her arm, the superintendent said ‘I get 100 e-mails a day.’” I (Ragosta) said, “How many of them are about a penis drawn on the arm of a 13-year-old girl?” Ragosta said, “He was just so dismissive!” He also stated “I just wanted to slap him!”

Richard Corrente

Mr. Corrente is a Democratic candidate for mayor

Comments

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  • JohnStark

    I do not know Mr. Corrente and have never spoken with him. Critics will say he has a political axe to grind. Fine. But is anything he writes untrue? I can not imagine that Warwick taxpayers paid for a $26,000 exhaustive investigation that did not include a written report of findings. If the SC did not contractually requite a written report, they should be removed from office for dereliction of their public duties.. If they DID require and receive a written report and subsequently lied about it, they should be the subject of an AG investigation. Either way, they all need to go. This needs to come to a head!

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • Gonewiththewind

    Sounds to me like someone on the school committee is protecting someone from losing their job. Let's see D'Agostino is gone, Mullin is gone but our former school lawyer/PR director is still here collecting her full salary. Guess she wasn't involved even though she was 100%responsibile for reviewing all personnel decisions for the superintendent and school committee. Hasn't anyone asked why she was not "asked" to leave/retire???

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • Norm88

    Mr. Corrente,

    There are a few things I find worth addressing from your letter:

    1st thank you for pointing out the Warwick has a high cost per pupil, who would have known that seeing RI spends the 5th most per pupil in the country.

    2nd thank you for pointing out what the elected officials IE city council have been pointing out that being the fact that the school committee handled the whole situation poorly. At best and there should be resolution of this issue without the violation of attorney client privilege or any HR polices seeing there has yet to be any charges filed.

    3rd And most disturbing to me is by you quoting Attorney Ragosta it shows that he may (my opinion only) a bit of bias towards the school committee for their lack of action towards his report (again only my opinion based on his response that you report). The reason this is disturbing to me is he is mediating between the WTU and WSD (witch in my view based on your comments he may deep down harbor some distain for) but I am sure he is uber professional.

    Lastly, Mr. Corrente why don’t you pick your own set of issues to base your run for mayor on and stop pandering to the city council looking for their support the tax payers of Warwick are who you should be trying to get to back you. It is my hope that my fellow tax payers have realized the over the next 2 years it is imperative that we clean house and vote out the old and in the new (and not vote in the same old).

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • jackiemama63

    Does anyone find it odd that an attorney with Mr. Ragosta's experience would speak so freely about a very sensitive investigation? To reveal the conversations (allegedly) he had with Dr. D'Agostino would be considered beyond unprofessional, that it may violate privilege, simply because Dr. D'Agostino was a witness? This whole letter is nutty. Mrs. Ahearn is not a simpleton either, I sincerely doubt she told you there was no written report, of course there is a written report!! Just not for YOU to read, Mr. Corrente, because the report is sealed! Anytime there is a legal proceeding, such as the one which resulted in the "Ragosta Report" people are deposed, and it is NOT for public consumption unless the Courts decide it is. Why would Attorney Ragosta confide anything to you? Why would he risk his name, his validity, and the possibility of having a lawsuit slapped on him, to chit-chat with a stranger?

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • davet1107

    Mr Corrente, without going into why an attorney with the reputation of Mr. Ragostas would be so open with you, let me help give some elements of why Warwick's cost of education is highr than Cranston's. (comparing to Providence is, in many ways, apples and oranges)

    First, the Warwick Schoold Dept and its teachers pay into Social Security - Cranston's don't- that is roughly $8-$9 million.

    Second: Warwick buses kids over roughly 50 square miles - Cranston buses across 29 square miles. So we run much more buses than does Cranston. I don't have that exact number but buses aren't cheap.

    Third, Warwick has a much higher population of students with IEP than does Cranston, We're at 18%,and Cranston isn;'t even close. IEP students by definition, generally require more services and, therefore, more cost.

    Fourth, Warwick's teacher steps are significantly higher than Cranston's so our teachers are paid more and we have more of them.

    Fifth, at the elementary and junior high levels, Warwick offers more programs such as music, band, and chorus - Cranston eliminated those years ago and is still struggling to get them back.

    Sixth,Cranston still owes the city from when it ran up cumulative deficits of $6.9 million dollars.

    You want to be Mayor, correct? Focus on why the city-side of the budget has increased by $50 million over the last seven years for that will be much more useful if you want to realy understand where the financial issues are in the city. If you want to run for School Committee, then do that but the more you post the more clear it is that you do not have a good understanding of the Warwick schools.

    Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    You have a special needs child. Better make sure he/she gets sent to Warwick. Most districts in the state get rid of their problem, costly children and can deliver better and cheaper education to students without IEPs. Barrington, East Greenwich, etc all the Cadillac districts will tell people to move to Warwick so that they can get their special needs child educational needs met. Sad, but true.

    Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Still back to the fundamental question: Was there a written report or wasn't there? If there was, a) someone's lying, and b) who has access to it?

    Proportion of students in special education does not explain per-pupil expenditures, as both Woonsocket and Johnston have higher proportions of said students than Warwick with lower overall per-pupil costs. Warwick could start by examining it's rather expansive definition of "educational handicap", a term that purposely gives local districts great latitude. If 18% of Warwick's student population is deemed "educationally handicapped" while the national average is 8%, either there is something in the water in Warwick or a lot of questionable sped labeling is occurring to justify jobs.

    Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Report this

  • Norm88

    JohnStark were do you obtain your numbers? http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp

    Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Report this

  • Reality

    Here goes Corrente again. The school dept is in the sights of the Warwick City Council to keep the focus away from the city side of the budget. Corrente continually questions Ms. Ahern but he fails to discuss the fact that Ms. Vella-Wilkinson and Backus protested the closing of Warwick Vets. Eddie Ladouceur and Donna Travis also led the charge They were against school closings but the hypocrites now say the school dept can't manage their budget. It is interesting that Eddie, Vella and Travis aren't up in arms about the Warwick teacher arrested last week ....why haven't called for an investigation.....is it because the last name of the teacher charged is identical to one of their big facebook supporters ?

    Why is Corrente taking Vella to task for not holding meeting regarding ending lifetime healthcare for retirees? It s only costing taxpayers $8 million per year? Hey Richard, how come you haven't called Donna out regarding million dollar fire dept overtime year after year? How come Richard never questions why Eddie hasn't addressed the pension problem in Warwick ?

    I guess when you are sucking up to Vella, Donna and Eddie to gain acceptance the tuff questions can't be asked. Ask Corrente because he continually panders to the city council.

    Thursday, October 1, 2015 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Dave1107,

    As usual, you make a lot of valid points. Thank you for that. And yes, I do want to be Mayor of Warwick, but no, I won't just focus on the city-side of the budget. We are spending almost $300,000,000 of the taxpayers money and I'm going to do what Mayor Jorge Elorza did in Providence; I'm going to examine every single dollar with an added focus on transparency so 80,000 taxpayers can see what they're getting for their tax dollar. I'm also going to do what former Mayor Angel Tavares did, and take a 20% pay cut. (management-by-example).

    Dave, I'm sure that when I agree with someone (like you), I'll be accused of pandering and when I disagree (even if it's with you) I'll be accused of having an ax to grind, but I guess it goes with the territory. In either event, keep writing. It's called "Democracy".

    Stay well,

    Richard Corrente

    Democrat for Mayor - 2016

    Thursday, October 1, 2015 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Jackiemama63,

    Just to be 100% clear.

    Jennifer Ahearn did not say that there was a written report, but that it was sealed and it was "not for you to read" as you suggest. She said, "Because there is no written report. It was all verbal." Those were her exact words. Please ask her. And you are absolutely right. There had to be a written report... and there is.

    Richard Corrente

    Democrat for Mayor - 2016

    Thursday, October 1, 2015 Report this

  • jackiemama63

    Of course there is. It's not for you, me or anyone else to see. We don't have the "right" to see it. Just as we do not have the "right" to see classified documents until they are "de" classified. If the courts decide you should see the report, then you will see it. There were a lot of people interviewed for that investigation, not just Dr. D'Agostino, Dennis Mullen, and Rosemary Healy, so keep that in mind when you, and your friends are beating the drums to see that report. It could be a problem for others, not necessarily the people you assume it will be a "problem" for.

    Friday, October 2, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Mr. Corrente: With respect, does this mean that we can expect Warwick's economy to resemble that of Providence?

    Question: Would you support and defend a city initiative for school vouchers, in which each taxpaying family with school-age children would receive a voucher equivalent to the per pupil cost of Warwick public schools, redeemable at any school (private, public, or parochial) that would accept it? Of course, if a parent received the voucher worth the 2015-16 value of $17,800 per pupil, and sent their son to, say, Hendricken ($13,650) the city would retain the difference. What say you?

    Friday, October 2, 2015 Report this

  • davet1107

    Mr. Corrente,

    I wish you luck but I'm not sure if I'd emulate Angel Tavares. Sure, he took a pay cut but he also left a just-found $5 million decicit. And let's wait to see the Elorza rhetoric delivers good fiscal results. I predict they won t. Of course as Mayor, you look at total city expenditures and I'd hope you'd start where the most profligate spending has occurred ovef the last several years and that would be the city side of the ledger.

    Friday, October 2, 2015 Report this

  • danfire

    This school committee is a joke. Only 3 of them have been attending the meetings for negotiations. They all take the free health care. We need to recall these people who won't do the job they were elected for.

    Saturday, October 3, 2015 Report this

  • davet1107

    Danfire, the reason there are only three negotiating is because they comprise the negotiating committee! The entire SC does not, and to my knowledge never has, negotiated the contract. Recalling them is silly, not in the charter, and lastly, none of their behaviors rise to the level of recall. Maybe next time people will pay more attention before they cast their votes.

    Saturday, October 3, 2015 Report this

  • danfire

    I vote every election.I have never voted for any of them. Dave I do believe the are in arbitration where they all have to show up. May you should call the committee members and ask.

    Saturday, October 3, 2015 Report this

  • davet1107

    Danfire,

    I too vote in every election and I voted for some of them and not others. Actually, right now they are in mediation, not arbitration. In fact, i did speak to Dr. Holland on Thursday and he said that there's one more mediaton session and if nothing comes of that, it goes to arbitration. Not to nitpick, but your original charge was that all of them weren't involved in the negotiations.

    Sunday, October 4, 2015 Report this