Meeting over school budget set for Monday
The School Committee’s action to cut $6.6 million from its budget including the loss of 25 jobs, elimination for funding for the mentor program and possible charging of $1 a day for school bus rides is sending shock waves through the community and finally, it appears, the mayor, city council president and superintendent and School Committee will meet.
Meanwhile, the School Committee is pursuing action under the Caruolo Act to bring suit for the city to increase funding. An investigative audit of the school budget is expected to be completed in early August, which will be presented to the committee later in the month. It will then be up to the committee whether it brings suit.
Mayor Joseph Solomon said yesterday numerous efforts to coordinate a meeting with the School Committee in response to a request from committee chair Bethany Furtado were unsuccessful because of conflicting schedules. He said he sent the parties an email that he’s available 24/7.
“I’ll be there [whenever they set it],” he said. “I will sit down and talk and listen.”
School Superintendent Philip Thornton said the committee is “actively pursuing to get a meeting with the mayor and the City Council president.” Then later yesterday, Catherine Bonang, secretary to Thornton, reported a meeting has tentatively been scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m.
What could be accomplished by meeting?
“[I have] no authority but to give an opinion,” Solomon said. He pointed out that under the City Charter he doesn’t have the power to tell the School Committee how to spend its budget allocation. Referring to the allocation of city funds that would require council approval, he added, “I don’t have the power to deliver…I don’t know what they’re asking for.”
Solomon did offer his opinion on cuts made by the School Committee, scoring the $102,000 cut from the mentor program and speculating schools could have saved $500,000 had it sought bids on busing and $1 million if it had piggybacked with the city on Blue Cross. Because of dependence on volunteers as mentors, Solomon called the mentor program “almost a freebie.”
Asked about bids for busing and health care, Bonang said in the last seven years the department has sought bids on two occasions. In the first instance, First Student that has the contract was the only company capable to providing a fleet large enough to accommodate the city. In the second round of bidding, First Student was the only bidder.
As for health care, Bonang said a switch to Blue Cross could have saved $300,000 but that it was the city’s consultant that recommended schools stay with West Bay Health based on long-range considerations.
Solomon was critical of school’s initial budget request calling on the council for an additional $8 million in city funding.
“It was legally and financially impossible to reach that number,” Solomon said of the $8 million. The council increased school funding by $1.5 million. Schools requested a budget of $171.4 million. The Council approved a $164.7 million school budget. It also put an additional $4 million into road repaving while levying the maximum allowable property tax rate increase.
Could parents end up paying for school busing as is being done in Massachusetts?
That seems unlikely, as free school busing is a state law. Similarly it seems unlikely many of the eight waivers requested on the Rhode Island Commissioner of Education including a charge for athletics and elimination of school bus monitors on selected routes would be granted.
Asked for his opinion on the requested waiver that schools pay $1,750,000 in bond principal and interest payments, Solomon said that the committee “voluntarily accepted that payment” some years ago.
One of the deepest cuts in terms of personnel would be in positions represented by the Warwick Independent School Employees or WISE. A total of 25 jobs are eliminated including eight teacher assistants, four library clerks and 15 custodians.
The waivers sought by the department, totaling nearly $6 million between revenues and savings to which the commission has until next Thursday to respond are:
Charging for Busing
School transportation accounts for a little over $10,000,000 annually. Costs continue to escalate with contractual and fuel increases. Following the models set forth in the neighboring state of Massachusetts, the Warwick School District seeks the authority to charge $1.00 a day for transportation costs per each student. Putting this in place in the district would raise approximately $954,000
each year.
Charging for Sports
School sports at the middle and high school levels has a yearly cost of $850,000 for the Warwick School District. Following the models set forth in the neighboring state Massachusetts, the Warwick School District seeks the authority to charge for middle and high school sports. Based on preliminary reviews, Warwick Schools would be seeking to create a fee structure that provides a sliding scale based on ability to pay and a cap based on the number of students from one family and number of sports played by the student. The fees would be based on the cost of the sport. We would be attempting to fund 50% of the annual athletic budget thereby increasing revenue by $425,000
each year.
Elimination of School Bus Monitors
School bus monitors on all school buses is a unique circumstance to Rhode Island school districts. Other school districts around the nation do not staff monitors to the same level as Rhode Island, and yet, do not have any higher incidence of student safety issues. The elimination of school bus monitors on specified bus routes is projected to save $275,000 each school year in Warwick.
Elimination of Payment for Private School Books
Each year the Warwick School District pays $40,000 for textbooks for students not attending schools in the District. Warwick is asking relief from this requirement. The savings from this requirement would be 40,000 each year.
Elimination of Payments for Student Pathway Programs
Over the last several years RIDE has changed positions with regard to Career and Technical school regulations/student choice as they pertain to student placement in various programs or pathways. What was a prescribed system of catchment areas for districts and the respective students, has turned into a public school voucher system with no external accountability system.
Warwick Schools is budgeting 17 students attending neighboring North Kingstown and 13 students attending Foster Glocester for programs that are already run in Warwick Schools. The lure of a more desirable zip code or the promise of joining a particular sports team is often the attraction for these moves.
Districts have asked RIDE to create a metric by which all schools with a particular pathway can be measured, the argument being; should a sending school district have a comparable program in district, in scope and quality, they would not be obligated to pay an out of district tuition.
To date we have no accountability system to regulate student choice where districts have identical programs, thus, districts are forced to pay increasing tuition rates to outplaced students.
Pathway tuitions to other school districts are budgeted at $515,494 in FY 18-19. The district is budgeting transportation costs totaling $175,000. The district seeks the ability to retain students in district where the same program is offered. Doing so will provide Warwick Public Schools a total savings of $690,494 for the 2018-2019 school year.
Elimination of Payments for Charter Schools
Payments to charter schools from Warwick has risen from $170,000 in FY 2009-2010 to a budget of $1,287,900 in FY 2018-2019. In addition to the tuition cost to the district, Warwick Schools loses state aid to charter schools for these students. Warwick is seeking financial relief from this mandate, the combined relief would provide $1,698,530 for the 2018-2019 school year.
Elimination of Transportation Costs for DCYF Placed Students
Previously districts were compensated for DCYF students placed in district through payments made to group homes for each bed in the community the child would reside/attend school. This year, new practices have been implemented whereby Warwick Schools is now paying for DCYF students transportation to various schools throughout the state. Warwick is seeking financial relief from this mandate, which would save the district $120,000 for the 2018-2019 school year.
Elimination of District Payment for School Building Debt Service
Warwick is one of very few systems currently paying debt service. Starting in 2010, the Warwick School Department has been compelled by the City of Warwick to pay the principal and interest payments on city owned buildings. Current year cost is $1.6 million and slated to rise to $1,750,000 in FY 18-19.
Total Fiscal Relief From Above Areas $5,953,024
