“I didn’t know about this until I read Thursday’s Beacon,” one constituent told Ward 7 Councilman and City Council President last week.

News that the School Committee is focused on building high schools to replace Pilgrim and Toll Gate didn’t break as recently as last week. Yet, we understand why many people haven’t heard bout the plan until now.

The department commenced the discussion of how to best modernize the two buildings more than two years ago. After several public meetings and workshops, the committee voted to renovate the schools over other options including a single new school serving all the city and two new schools.

And then the pandemic hit and planning came to a halt.

Why am I dredging up recent history in this column instead of recounting family foibles and accounts of Ollie, who without question is the family star whether he realizes it or not. Ollie columns rate high on the list of unsolicited responses with the occasional inquiry, “how’s he doing?” So as not to duck the question, after our world was buried in snow and then covered in ice, Ollie has spent a lot of his time catching up on his sleep, which is only interrupted at our dinner where he puts on a convincing display of being close to starvation. Bottom line, he gets his treats.

This gets me to the issue of new high schools – will they be a treat for Warwick or, as some fear, a form of torture as taxpayers pay off the cost over the next 20 years? To make the parallel to dinner table all the more complete, under the best-case scenario, Warwick will be reimbursed $150 million of projected $350 million to build the schools. That’s more than table scraps but it still leaves taxpayers with a hefty tab and possible indigestion.

I’ve been asked, “what’s the rush” and “can’t we take more time to think this over?”

These are good questions and despite Monday’s Council action to meet the Feb. 15 deadline for RIDE Stage 2 approval, there will be ample time to debate new high schools. RIDE required the council’s nod if it was going to Stage 3, which is the precursor to putting the question on the ballot and giving the final say to Warwick voters.

It needs to be clear, as the School Committee did, that Warwick’s preferred action was to remodel the two schools, The Town of Lincoln went that route and, after four years of renovations and educational disruptions, RIDE concluded new schools like that built in East Providence are preferable and ultimately less costly. Warwick’s reconstruction plan was rejected last July thereby setting in motion plans for new schools.

I am frustrated, as I imagine many of you are, that there has not been a community forum or Toll Gate and Pilgrim workshops where plans for the two schools are displayed and the public can raise questions. A Zoom meeting is not the place for dialogue. We don’t see the crowd or the lack of one. We can’t gauge what resonates with the audience and see how officials respond. What’s needed is an explanation of the 21st century school – what is the purpose of design layouts and provisions for technological developments. We also need to hear student enrollment projections, a more complete explanation of what options were considered and how an additional $200 million in city debt could impact taxes.

I’m hopeful the new schools proposal will reach the ballot and voters will have the opportunity to decide for themselves if this is what Warwick should do. But before reaching the voting booth, we need to be educated on the plan and its impact. School officials need to explain how we got to this point and what new schools could mean.

Then it’s up to us to decide if this makes sense.