Proposed school budget hike draws fire

WARWICK — The city's schools superintendent on Monday proposed a $9.6-million expansion in school spending during the next fiscal year.

The proposed increase is subject to review by Warwick's school committee, but the scope of Supt. Philip Thornton's budget request is certain to heighten financial concerns in a district where school officials are still haggling with municipal officials over spending in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Meanwhile, some spending cuts proposed in the budget quickly drew fire at the committee's meeting Monday night.

The elimination of 6.5 math interventionist positions and 10 teacher assistants in certain classrooms — first-and second-grade classrooms that have multiple teachers — will set up the school system for a "debacle," said the president of the Warwick Teachers Union, Darlene Netcoh.

Those spending cuts free up about $1 million, according to a submission from the district's finance director, Anthony Ferrucci. The cuts follow others in the past that removed guidance counselors and reduced school psychologists, said Netcoh.

The committee is "just leaving kids in the elementary schools without support," she said.

The proposed $174-million budget calls for spending increases of about $2.8 million for contractual staff salary increases; $557,239 for salary enhancements for teachers climbing to higher steps; $389,496 for additional custodians; $510,000 to pay aides and bus monitors $15 per hour instead of minimum wage; almost $3.3 million in additional medical insurance costs; almost $700,000 in additional state pension costs; $471,675 in building improvements; and almost $1.7 million worth of increased tuition costs.

The district's popular mentor program has found a way to operate at a reduced level in the current school year without any funding. The proposed spending plan for the next school year would continue to defund mentoring by $102,000.

The budget proposal does not include $57,373 for swimming-pool and ice-arena rental. It includes $224,000 for improving the math curriculum.

School officials are already in a mediation process that aims to resolve a conflict with the municipal side of Warwick's city government over the city's appropriation in the current fiscal year. That appropriation is $123.9 million, according to Ferrucci.

The school system faces a year-end operating deficit of $4.6 million.

During the next budget year, its state aid support is slated to grow by a "windfall" of more than $1.1 million, but to cover all of the anticipated expenses for the next fiscal year, the city needs to add $8.5 million to this year's appropriation of $123.4 million, says Ferrucci's submission.

At one point, Ferrucci suggested that some type of “intervention” would be necessary for the district to actually secure $8.5 million in additional appropriations from the city.

"The decisions are going to be tough," said one committee member, David Testa, after Ferrucci finished making the proposal on behalf of Thornton.

Testa sounded like a doctor as he reacted to the proposal, asking his colleagues to stand by the principle of doing no harm.

“I'll be blunt,” he said. “Cutting math interventionists does harm. Cutting teachers' assistants does harm.”

"I don't know if we're going to balance it,” Testa said. “I think the School Committee needs to decide what are we going to stand up for."