Warwick school leaders outline budget shortfall, cite special-education costs and unfunded mandates

Acting Superintendent William McCaffrey and members of the Warwick School Department presented the drivers of the district—s budget shortfall at a special Warwick City Council meeting called to review school finances.

McCaffrey told the council the school budget has been built around a deficit-reduction plan the Rhode Island auditor general required. "Our budget is driven by the auditor general's — he required us to submit a deficit reduction plan," McCaffrey said, and the district has met with the auditor general and the city finance office while preparing the current proposal.

The school administration and school committee said multiple factors are increasing costs: tuition for out-of-district special-education placements, contractual salary and benefit increases, health-care costs, utilities, pandemic-era ESSER accounting distortions and requirements from state education regulators. The district reported it has $14,000,000 in active grants and a newly strengthened finance office that has already identified and recorded roughly $2,890,000 in budget cuts for fiscal 2025.

Why it matters: Warwick Public Schools serves about 8,000 students who enter buildings daily and the district says it is financially responsible for roughly 8,300–8,400 students when accounting for out-of-district placements and other tuition obligations. School officials warned the council that without the planned local funding increase and adherence to the auditor-general—s plan the district expects continuing deficits through the budget cycle.

Key numbers and program details presented

- Special education: Using October 1 enrollment figures, the district reported 2,618 students classified for special education (about 21% of enrollment). The district listed 247 teaching assistants and 51 one-on-one TAs; school staffing in total was reported as 868 teachers. A district special-education presenter summarized the legal requirement under federal law: "Under IDEA, we are required to provide students with the free and appropriate education," and said the district offers a full continuum of services but must place students out of district when it cannot provide required services locally.

- Cost drivers and variances: The presentation listed recent budget variances the district attributed to salaries ($5,470,000 overage), benefits ($901,000) and electricity ($625,000). Officials also noted accounting and projection problems tied to ESSER fund use and summer payroll accounting. The district is transitioning its financial management software from Allio to Munis.

- Cuts and reserves: Administrators said they have recorded $2,890,000 in cuts for FY25 (parked in a holding account so they stand out in budget documents). The school committee has approved staffing reductions that the administration has incorporated into its deficit plan; the district described phased pension payments and a multi-year plan to stabilize the pension fund.

- Purchasing and procurement: Kayla Quirk, who oversees purchasing and food service, reviewed procurement thresholds: direct-pay for purchases $500 or less using contracted online vendor accounts; three quotes for purchases of $1,000 and up; internal bids or state purchasing-contract use for $5,000 and above (school-committee approval required for $5,000+); and an established formal bid process for construction or $10,000+ purchases unless a purchasing contract applies. Quirk said the district participates in cooperative purchasing arrangements (MHEC, Sourcewell, Omnia Partners, state MPAs).

- Staffing and reductions: Kim Reggieri, director of human resources, explained staffing rules and constraints: reductions must follow contractual seniority rules and many employees are at top-step pay, which limits near-term savings from layoff or attrition. The district told the council that a number of positions have been targeted for reduction across WTU (teachers union), clerical, custodial and TA categories; the exact realized savings depend on seniority, dual certifications and contractual obligations.

- Curriculum and mandates: Curriculum Director Lisa Schultz reviewed state —high-quality— curricular mandates and the district—s adoptions: I-Ready (math and K–8 assessment), Wit & Wisdom (elementary ELA) and StudySync (secondary ELA). She described OpenSciEd piloting for science and said curriculum adoption and recurring renewal costs are unfunded mandates. Schultz said the district has spent more than $500,000 on science-of-reading training and flagged upcoming costs tied to new multilingual-learner regulations and mandated suicide-prevention training.

Council questions and follow-ups

Council members pressed for data and specific follow-ups. Councilman Mutoh said he wants a clearer, education-centric model of cost drivers: "This is a calculus slash algebraic example," he said, asking the administration to map inputs and constraints that determine staffing needs by student subgroup. Council members asked for counts of current IEPs, one-on-one aides, evaluations since Jan. 1, typical-year averages, and other line-item clarifications; the administration supplied October 1 special-education counts and said it would provide additional detail before the council—s budget hearings.

Administrators also explained specific line items on the general-fund expense summary, including a holding-account entry used to show where FY25 cuts were parked and one-time items such as leased equipment and unspent building-improvement appropriations.

District—s near-term requests and next steps

School leaders asked the council to consider an increase in local aid from 0.29% to 2.2% (as presented internally) combined with state aid and the deficit-reduction plan to return the district to balance over a multi-year horizon. McCaffrey said that with the 2.2% local increase plus state aid and the deficit plan, the district would project ending its deficit by FY29; he warned that underfunding the current year would increase future deficits.

The council and school officials also agreed on administrative follow-ups: school staff will provide requested line-item details, counts and mandate-cost estimates before the council—s formal budget deliberations next week; members of the public were asked to submit questions or comments by email to the school department or council so the administration can respond in writing.

Ending

No formal policy votes were taken on the budget during the presentation; the meeting concluded with a routine motion to adjourn. The council will consider the formal school budget during its scheduled budget hearings next week.