Thanks to an unexpected increase in state aid courtesy of the ever-changing nature of the state’s educational funding formula, the Warwick School Department was able to restore some student-centric services and line up about $12 million worth of capital projects set to occur during the summer of 2020 – and both measures were approved unanimously by the Warwick School Committee on Tuesday night.

The unexpected windfall of $283,000 from the state primarily allowed the schools to set aside $200,000 to conduct architectural design work for capital projects that the department hopes will begin following the end of the current school year. However, that will require a second release of funding from the $40 million bond approved by voters last November, which school finance director Anthony Ferrucci said the department would be requesting from the Warwick City Council this December.

Additionally, the schools could restore stipends for teachers to act as advisers for student activities at a price of around $13,000; restore funding to rent a suitable space for graduation (which they estimate costing $15,000 based on prior experiences); about $16,000 to purchase 27 emergency cell phones for principals and administrators for the safety and wellbeing of students; and about $26,000 to reinstate late buses to ferry students from after school activities.

A small remainder of $12,874 was leftover as a contingency to possibly hire a part-time staff member or deal with other salary-related expenses down the line.

And there was more possible good news financially, as plans to spend $500,000 to fully replace an HVAC system at Winman Middle School were altered to instead spend $150,000 on a temporary fix until the district can assess whether capital funds can be utilized in a future school construction bond – which the School Committee has already approved at $79 million, but the City Council has yet to hear on their floor. Ferrucci said the Council would be hearing their Phase II bond proposal as early as October.

Between the $350,000 in possible savings on the HVAC system, the nearly $13,000 leftover from state aid and anticipated breakage (the amount of money due to be saved by top-step teachers retiring or being replaced by lower-step teachers), the schools could potentially be working with around $1.5 million or so of “surplus” by November.

“If we achieve that number, I think we'll have dollars available to reseed other things and set up a priority list and have a conversation on that,” Ferrucci said during the school committee meeting, alluding to a long list of cuts that still remain in effect throughout the district.

Phase I bond projects on schedule

Capital construction projects made possible from the $40 million bond approved by voters last November are well underway, with about 40 percent of the first “release” of funding – which amounts to about $6.18 million – spent as of Aug. 29.

Ferrucci said the amount of work completed at this point is actually higher, as bills from contractors will be coming in for work already completed throughout the next couple months. He said that the scope of work was “on target.”

Included in the scope of work is fire alarm system replacements at four elementary schools (Oakland Beach, Robertson, Scott and Warwick Neck), Winman Middle School and Toll Gate High School. Half of those projects are complete and waiting on final approval from the state fire marshal.

Over $900,000 of interior work, including updating interior doors and locks, will be ongoing throughout the district throughout the next five years, but no contractors have been selected at this time to begin the work. Asbestos abatement at Scott, Cedar Hill and Wyman Elementary Schools are complete and awaiting final sign off inspections and roofing projects are finished at Toll Gate and Sherman, with Wyman Elementary still slated for work to be done.

Ferrucci said that the hopes to have ADA-compliant playgrounds finished at Warwick Neck and Lippitt Elementary Schools were dashed due to a lone bidder coming in at an unreasonable price, which forced a re-bid. He estimated that everything remaining on the list, excluding the interior work throughout all schools in the district, should be complete by June of 2020.

“Things are getting done,” Ferrucci said. Compared to where the district was my first four or five years here, we're light years ahead.”

In other positive financial news, Mayor Joseph Solomon announced Wednesday afternoon that first release of the $40 million bond was approved at a low interest rate of 2.7 percent.

“The interest rates the city secured reflect market demand and S&P’s affirmation of our ‘AA’ bond rating,” Solomon said in a release. “I am very pleased with [Tuesday’s] outcome, which shows that we are continuing to move in a positive financial direction.”