An effort by Ward 5 Warwick City Councilman Ed Ladouceur to halt construction work on two new high schools and put the issue up for another vote attracted a large crowd and state media attention to the Warwick City Council chambers Monday evening.

The resolution failed in a 7-to-2 vote, with Ladouceur joined by Ward 7 Councilman John Kirby in calling for a special election.

Ladouceur, the sole member of the committee to vote against releasing the $350-million bond in September 2023, said that there had been enough changes to the school plans since the referendum passed in 2022 that the public would not receive what they had voted on.

“We’re not getting anything near what was originally sold,” Ladouceur said. “I have talked about bait and switch … this is something that in my opinion needs to go back to the voters.”

Ladouceur also cited the financial burden of building the new schools, which are currently projected to be over budget. Current estimates have the cost of building the two schools at $372.9 million – $15 million less than LeftField Project Management’s previous estimate in October, but still well above the $350 million set in the bond.

Not knowing how much the project will cost, Ladouceur said, is a significant concern.

“We still don’t have a definitive number for what it will cost,” Ladouceur said. “If we can’t get [the overage] any lower than $23 million, then who’s paying that $23 million?”

Members of the public in favor of Ladouceur’s resolution mostly expressed their concerns about the tax hikes that borrowing the $350 million would trigger, with residents arguing that those hikes would drive them out of the city.

“The thought of new schools seems wonderful, but it’s so overbudget that it should be voted on again,” resident Cindy Wilson said. “I feel like you’re leaving the elderly no choice but to move.”

Not wanting to move out of the city, though, was also an argument that those in favor of stopping Ladouceur’s resolution.

“I want to have a family here, I plan to grow my family here, I want my kids to go to school where my sister-in-law, my husband, all my friends have gone to school, which is Pilgrim, and we have every intention to do that,” resident Johanna Conley said. “And now that this may not happen again, we have to have another hard conversation about whether or not we are staying here. Do we need to leave? Was this the right place?”

Supporters of moving ahead on the schools argued that postponing construction would only push up costs. School Committee member David Testa said delays that have occurred thus far have added roughly $20 million to the cost of the project, which – including a $17-million contingency to absorb cost increases – is $23 million more than the $350 million approved.

Testa also noted that Central Falls approved a bond to build its high school at the same time Warwick did, and that high school is expected to be completed later this year.

Multiple speakers said that even if the schools were rejected in a referendum, the city would still have to pay for extensive renovations to existing schools, claiming that it would likely cost the city more for a worse product.

“This is a bill that is coming due eventually,” Jeremy Johnston, a member of the public speaking against Ladouceur’s resolution, said. “There’s no way to get around that. And it is only going to get more expensive” as time goes on.

Other council members weigh in

Though other council members said they were not happy with the current state of the high school projects, they each said that they believed that the impact of halting the project and holding a special election would be harmful regardless of the result of the special election.

Ward 6 Councilman William Muto said that while he had initially voted against the high school project in 2022, he has since come around to its necessity after multiple meetings with school administrators, parents and teachers.

He defended his position against a special election by saying that no matter what, Warwick would have to spend a significant amount of money on fixing its school infrastructure, and that prior to some recent renovations of some of Warwick’s elementary schools, every one of Warwick’s school buildings was rated in poor condition.

“Hypothetically, if this goes away and we don’t do anything, we’d still be on the hook to fix these two schools for approximately the same amount of money,” Muto said. “And for what it’s worth, it’s likely going to cost more.”

Council President Anthony Sinapi said that making sure the project continues to move forward is financially prudent, as the state Department of Education is reimbursing the city for more than half the total cost.

“To not go forward would mean we would say goodbye to 55% reimbursement,” Sinapi said. “So if your concern is that you don’t want to spend that money, $350 million, even though you’re spending less than that – if we don’t go forward, you’ll be spending a lot more than that because there won’t be that reimbursement.”

Sinapi also echoed Muto’s point on the condition of the city’s school buildings, noting that his son, a current Toll Gate student, had told him before that the students could not use the enclosed skywalks connecting sections of the school in periods of high winds.

Kirby, the only councilman to support Ladouceur’s resolution, did not speak at the meeting.

The seven council members who opposed it each said that the changes made to school plans since 2022 did not warrant another special election.

“This is very frustrating to me,” Ward 9 Councilman Vincent Gebhart said, making a motion to strike down the bill. “I consider it completely outrageous that we are holding this forum here tonight. I consider it completely outrageous that the folks who should be working on these buildings and getting the deficits down … are sitting here answering questions that have been asked and answered and asked and answered. The horse has left the barn.”