Custodians, mentoring restored by school committee in new budget

by ETHAN HARTLEY
Posted 4/25/19

By ETHAN HARTLEY If administrators or members of the Warwick School Committee are unable to find significant savings throughout the coming days, The Warwick School Department will once again need to request a figure from the City Council in the range of

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Custodians, mentoring restored by school committee in new budget

Posted

If administrators or members of the Warwick School Committee are unable to find significant savings throughout the coming days, The Warwick School Department will once again need to request a figure from the City Council in the range of $8.5 million to adequately fund their budget for FY2020.

School finance director Anthony Ferrucci outlined the numbers contained within Superintendent Philip Thornton’s recommended budget to the school committee during hearings held Monday and Tuesday night at Warwick Veterans Middle School. Two more hearings were scheduled following the Beacon’s deadline on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

In summary, the schools are facing a 5.86 percent increase in expenses, amounting to a total dollar increase of $9,663,543 from last year. This is offset by an increase in state revenue of $1,126,283 – due to the state contribution rate for Warwick increasing back to 40.5 percent – which results in a final net need of $8,537,259 to cover rising costs. The total budget, as is, amounts to over $174 million.

Those increased costs are buoyed by $2.83 million in contractually obligated salary raises across all staff, another $557,000 for step increases for staff, adding back second shift custodians that were cut last year at a cost of around $389,000, and increasing building aide and bus monitor salaries from minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. In total, staffing expenses account for about $4.6 million in increases.

Additionally, the $8.5 million figure includes another approximately $6.44 million for non-staffing costs such as medical insurance, pensions, transportation, out-of-district tuition for special education students and the state Pathways program, and building improvements. It also includes the reality that the schools still face an approximately $4.6 million deficit for the current fiscal year that ends on June 30, which has yet to be solved.

To recover about $1.2 million in savings, Thornton included in his budget various cuts, including all 6.5 full time equivalent math interventionists at the elementary level, amounting to $539,500 in savings. Additionally, 10 teaching assistants for grades 1 and 2 who assisted in co-taught classrooms were cut – meaning those classrooms that had a teacher, co-teacher and a TA would no longer have that TA – amounting to another $500,000 in savings.

These items have already caused concern from educators. Warwick Teachers’ Union president Darlene Netcoh decried the cutting of TAs for grades 1 and 2, saying during an event at Toll Gate on Tuesday that they were essential for giving kids proper attention during an especially important developmental time in their lives.

Representing math interventionists – which are responsible for supporting kids struggling with math but also support teachers in how they administer the math curriculum – Nikki Greene spoke up during the public comment session.

“These positions are not a want, they are a need,” she said. “And I cannot stress that enough.”

Other notable items originally left out of the budget included the $102,000 line item to support Mentor Rhode Island – which drew more pleas from mentoring advocates – approximately $57,000 for renting the McDermott Pool and Thayer/Warburton Ice Arena and the oft-repeated $1.75 million to cover principal and interest payments due related to a 2006 school bond.

The principal and interest number being left out of the budget is important to note because if the city is to come forward with money for the school department before the end of the fiscal year, but that money (or a portion of it) is advertised as a means to cover the principal and interest cost, it would account as a net zero in the budget and would not actually help dig into the $8.5 million overall net need.

Mentors, support staff restored

Although the print edition of today's Beacon was unable to reflect changes made Wednesday night, the school committee decided to add back in the funding for elementary math interventionists, elementary teaching assistants and $100,000 to support Mentor Rhode Island.

The changes added $1.139 million back on top of the existing need, pushing the eventual ask of the city over $9.5 million if the committee is unable to find savings elsewhere in the budget to make up for those re-allocations.

Still, the decision from the committee was heralded by mentoring advocates in particular.

"We're thrilled that the school committee put us back into the budget for $100,000," said Mentor Rhode Island executive director Jo-Ann Schofield on Thursday morning. "We know that it's a first step and, with a $9 million deficit that they'll be facing, they will probably be re-visiting all those expenses that they're approving. So, I am cautiously optimistic, but this is our first step towards being funded and I am thrilled."

The hunt for cuts begins

Tasked with a challenged labeled “daunting” by no fewer than three people who spoke up at public comment during Tuesday night’s hearing, the school committee now must go to work identifying ways to carve savings from the budget in the hopes to lower the eventual ask of the city council. Last year, when asking for approximately $8.1 million from the city, the schools received $1.5 million instead.

Throughout the course of Monday Tuesday and Wednesday night's meetings, the school committee focused on a few issues in particular that might see the chopping block, including a $100,000 line item to replace two, 18-year-old utility trucks that are among an aging fleet of vehicles used to, among other thing, plow snow to open up schools during the winter time.

On Wednesday, the school committee voted to cut $50,000 from a $150,000 line item that would go towards stipends for teachers to attend a scheduled professional development day at the beginning of next school year.

The committee on Tuesday night also targeted $150,000 in the budget that would go towards renovating both locker rooms at Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools, though they did not take decisive action for or against a cut.

“$150,000 for locker rooms seems ridiculous,” said committee Vice Chair Judy Cobden. “I don't know if I can say that's a good way to spend our money. I'd rather spend it on our kids' education.”

However, Thornton reasoned that it is an issue that is important to get ahead of, and that the students deserve better facilities than what they currently have.

He noted the age of the locker rooms – both are original to the buildings, and a portion of Toll Gate’s has been closed off to access due to rusty, jagged portions being deemed a safety hazard – had already drawn a red flag from NEASC, which handles accreditation status for schools, 10 years ago at Toll Gate, and the group is scheduled to inspect Pilgrim this upcoming October as well.

If the department does renovate the locker rooms, Thornton said, Title IX regulations dictate they would have to be done in a way that gives equal attention to both the boys and girls sections, which is currently not the case – as the older schools dedicated space for a varsity locker room section apart from the main locker room section for solely boys. This space would need to be replicated for the girls as well, otherwise they could face Title IX litigation.

Asked why, during another year rife with budgetary issues, this is the year that things like locker rooms are proposed to be addressed through the budget, Thornton said his and the administration’s job is to highlight areas of need.

“When our team looks at things, we're trying to address everything. Whether it's math curriculum, a shortcoming in a sports area, a building HVAC need – we're trying to address everything,” he said. “We put it all on the table and rank it all and keep attacking the problem. Every year we keep attacking and hitting things, but it's decades of not addressing these issues.”

When asked why he opted to leave certain things in the budget, like $21,000 for building dugouts for the Pilgrim High School softball field, while cutting out others, like $1.2 million in capital projects that include things like the Winman Middle School sidewalk and HVAC projects, Thornton said addressing all the needs were important, but that the school committee ultimately has the authority to decide what makes the budget and what gets cut.

“Whether it's the mentor program, or a softball dugout or a math curriculum – they’re all good discussions to have. Maybe at least if we raise these issues, if we can't do it this year, now it's on the radar and we can hopefully put it into next year's conversation,” he said. “People have competing interests. The school committee's main job is budget and policy. This is what they do. They take our advice and what was my budget now becomes their budget and they have to put their stamp on it and put what they want in the budget.”

NEEDS AN UPGRADE?

The locker rooms at Pilgrim High School are original to the school, originally built in 1962. The boys’ lockers have been replaced sometime in the 80s, while the girls’ are the original lockers from the 60s. There is $150,000 in the budget to renovate them. (Warwick Beacon photos)

OLD SCHOOL WORK:

A groundskeeper manually tills infield soil using a house-made implement attached to a golf cart at the Pilgrim softball field on Wednesday morning, a symbol of cost-saving measures that occurred by chance while Superintendent Philip Thornton and building and Kevin Oliver, facilities maintenance & operations manager, looked on.

Comments

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  • wwkvoter

    ...and in other news, Warwick officials are getting all the deck chairs rearranged!

    Thursday, April 25, 2019 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    What a friggen embarrassment. But this is what we give away.

    RETIREMENT DATE NAME UNUSED VAC UNUSED SICK BANKED HOL AMT PD

    1/3/2016 CARL PECCHIA 24 107.22 19 $51,723.75

    1/3/2016 MATTHEW MCCAULEY 24 101.42 22 $54,779.80

    1/10/2016 BRYAN OWENS 24 102.8 18 $53,806.23

    1/17/2016 BRUCE COOLEY 24 105 20 $72,312.68

    1/24/2016 EDMUND ARMSTRONG 24 105 20 $78,096.86

    1/24/2016 MICHAEL SHEA 24 105.77 20 $51,568.80

    2/21/2016 STANLEY ZUBA 0 74.75 15 $27,748.91

    3/20/2016 GREGORY MONTECALVO 20 105.62 20 $45,022.79

    3/27/2016 FREDERICK TRUDELL 24 105.62 20 $63,325.17

    5/1/2016 JEREMEY BEECHER 20 65.24 17 $35,203.28

    5/1/2016 WILLIAM TYLER 24 105.3 20 $58,882.43

    5/8/2016 FRANCIS COLANTONIO 24 105.92 23 $69,769.75

    6/5/2016 DAVID MORSE 20 104.73 20 $70,240.36

    6/5/2016 TIMOTHY PACKHEM 20 105.31 20 $50,033.14

    11/13/2016 THOMAS CHACE 24 107.02 20 $52,778.47

    12/4/2016 STEPHEN FAY 12 108.08 23 $53,964.05

    1/15/2017 STEPHEN DIMUCCIO 19 108.38 20 $46,943.48

    4/9/2017 JOHN HALLORAN 22 104.87 17 $51,035.01

    4/25/2017 EDWARD ALSFELD JR 0 0 0 $0.00

    4/30/2017 PETER MARIETTI III 17 105.93 0 $57,782.02

    5/21/2017 ROBERT PARMENTER 24 106.23 23 $66,812.88

    5/21/2017 THOMAS MAYMON JR 24 105.31 20 $70,181.68

    5/28/2017 MILES STEERE 24 105.62 20 $65,238.81

    7/16/2017 RICHARD BELLAVANCE 12 105 19 $60,189.52

    9/10/2017 KEITH BROWN 8 105.09 20 $51,713.45

    10/8/2017 RAYMOND ANTONELLI 12 106.27 20 $49,784.12

    11/12/2017 JAMES KENNEY 12 105 20 $69,526.13

    1/7/2018 RANDY RUSSELL 22 106.883 10 $50,754.79

    3/4/2018 WILLIAM LLOYD 20 69.22 20 $39,914.45

    3/18/2018 THOMAS JESSOP 20 105.62 23 $71,967.75

    3/25/2018 MICHAEL MOAN 24 105.62 20 $72,451.99

    4/15/2018 THOMAS SINOTTE 24 106.86 19 $67,317.12

    5/6/2018 EDWARD HANNON III 24 105 22 $77,775.57

    5/6/2018 JAMES MCLAUGHLIN 24 105 19 $82,332.40

    6/2/2018 JUSTIN SWEENEY 0 22.41 0 $6,076.92

    6/3/2018 JAMES MAXFIELD 24 105.48 20 $67,146.42

    6/3/2018 STEVEN A CAHOON 20 105.29 22 $53,827.13

    6/3/2018 STEVEN VINER 20 105.48 20 $65,349.62

    6/10/2018 JAMES CONLEY 21 101.96 20 $56,381.99

    6/24/2018 MICHAEL CIESYNSKI 16 105.04 21 $56,019.16

    6/27/2018 SCOTT CAPWELL 20 105.79 20 $65,488.87

    6/29/2018 CHRISTOPHER LECLAIR 15 106.23 16 $54,122.14

    6/29/2018 DAVID MAHONEY 14 106.23 23 $71,778.90

    6/30/2018 JAMES JORDAN 8 106.54 18 $59,536.97

    6/30/2018 JASON ERBAN 14 105.62 17 $49,927.78

    6/30/2018 MICHAEL CLARK 19 105.31 22 $65,722.45

    6/30/2018 PHILIP DOAR 16 67.42 0 $30,485.84

    6/30/2018 STEVEN HANDY 22 105.79 20 $66,387.27

    6/30/2018 THOMAS SUGRUE 22 106.54 21 $67,173.37

    8/19/2018 TIMOTHY PICARD 12 105 20 $50,066.65

    9/9/2018 JAMES SALISBURY 0 57.6025 15 $26,532.58

    Friday, April 26, 2019 Report this

  • Daydreambeliever

    All of it earned and by the books. Sorry Robert but all municipal and state employees earn the same. All of our judges, sheriffs, state police so stop trying to make anyone think its just a FD issue.

    Grow some balls and post what the WPD get for comp time and buyouts !!!!

    Friday, April 26, 2019 Report this

  • CAMP2020

    Shut up Cote. No one cares what you have to say.

    Sincerely,

    EVERYONE.

    Friday, April 26, 2019 Report this

  • KeepCalmandCarryOn

    With the taxes we pay in Warwick we see photos like this, what a disgrace! Kids have to use lockers like this or have them sectioned off from being safety issues?? I'm disgusted.......What kind of message is this sending to kids? Cutting math tutors and teacher aides? Again, what kind of message is this?

    Warwick needs to really get a grip on this budget situation before we've gone completely into the toilet.

    Why is someone posting names of Warwick police officers? This should be illegal to do so, these guys are under enough threats just going to work every day. It seems outrageous to me.

    Saturday, April 27, 2019 Report this

  • KeepCalmandCarryOn

    I meant to say Fire Dept. and yes this is pretty standard in municipalities. I work for a town in MA.

    Saturday, April 27, 2019 Report this

  • bendover

    I am glad our august school committee has decided that a new program might be in the cards for students. A custodian mentoring program might be just the cutting edge program this State needs. Perhaps they can convince The Queen of Raimondi that this should be included at the next level and be made available as part of the "free tuition" at CCRI and RIC...like minds think alike.

    Sunday, April 28, 2019 Report this

  • BeaconCommenter

    Seems reasonable that someone would post the names of retired firefighters in an article about the school budget.

    Sunday, April 28, 2019 Report this

  • Samuel

    Cote you are the friggen embarrassment. No one but a dozen people care what you have to say, no one even cares if you live or die. You have no credibility at all, you are a city-wide joke just like your buddy Stacia. She's selling her house because probably her husband is sick of supporting her, while values are high why don't you do the same. After all you vowed to move away years ago.

    Monday, April 29, 2019 Report this

  • warwick10

    Maybe that's the problem...maybe people should care! I'd rather see more of the city budget spent on schools vs. city pensions, unused sick and vacation time...

    Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Report this

  • Reality

    One of the reasons the schools are is such bad shape is because Scottie froze the school budget for years. Avedisian took those savings to pay the out of control WFD overtime, unused sick time etc.

    Backus was totally clueless and fought any opportunity to close unnecessary schools. Remember Bachus's refrain....if we eliminate one union job it can't be done. She is such a disgrace. Is Bachus still screaming at school meetings ? Is she still using 4 letter words at committee meetings ? Manners she doesn't have. Bachus is the master of bullying.

    Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Report this

  • patientman

    Avedisian kept the budget the pretty much flat but watching Bob Cushman on The Dan Yorke show last week the budget should be kept flat. We've lost 3,000 students over just a few years (over 12,000 to under 9,000). I think Cushman had a chart that showed per student spending was $11,000 in 2004 and is over $19,000 per student now. The schools have plenty of money.

    Wednesday, May 1, 2019 Report this