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Tiverton School Committee notifies town of midyear deficit; council schedules follow-up
Summary
The Tiverton School Committee sent a letter notifying the Town Council and state auditors that it projects a fiscal-year 2025 deficit; councilors discussed the causes, legal limits on remedies and next steps including engaging the school committee and exploring options at a later meeting.
The Tiverton School Committee notified the Town Council on Jan. 10 that it projects a current-year fiscal-year 2025 deficit of about $398,000, potentially increasing as the committee continues its review, Council President said during Monday’s meeting.
The letter included a tentative corrective-action plan; the council voted earlier in the meeting to add the school letter to the agenda for discussion only, under Rhode Island General Law 42-46-6(b), so members could hear the committee’s projections and begin planning next steps.
Why it matters: Under state law, school budgets must be balanced by June 30. Councilors said the timing — the council received the notice late on a Friday — prevented immediate action but required follow-up. Several councilors warned that using one-time funds to plug recurring shortfalls would not count toward the maintenance-of-effort and could worsen future budget gaps.
Council discussion focused on where the shortfall grew and how it was created. Councilor DeMaderas said the school’s filing did not identify the deficit’s root causes and asked for more detail. Councilor Janek noted prior one-time revenues and asset sales the schools used earlier in the year and cautioned that the town had already provided near the budget request the schools had sought for FY2025.
Councilor Janek and others said the town and school committee will need to negotiate options, including identifying savings, reallocating one-time funds or other measures. The council president said similar situations in other Rhode Island communities have been resolved in different ways — from negotiated settlements to court-ordered relief — and that the council will meet jointly with the school committee and auditor-general staff at a later date.
No vote was taken Monday on funding. The council agreed to bring the matter back at a later meeting so members can review the school’s detailed financial information and corrective-action updates.
The council also reminded the public that the school committee has already notified the auditor general and that state law treats deficit-closure funding and maintenance-of-effort rules separately.
