Committee Votes To Balance Budget

The Woonsocket School Committee has complied with Rhode Island Supreme Court orders to balance the department's budget and adopted many of the recommendations provided last month by B & E Consulting.  In a unanimous vote at last night's School Committee meeting at Hamlet Middle School, committee members cautiously agreed to approve a revised budget hashed out between Business Manager Stacey Busby and Mr. Edge of B & E.  

"They came to a meeting of the minds as to what cuts could be made," said Superintendent Robert Gerardi.  The adjustments include a greater reliance on revenue and less dependence on cuts and decreased spending.  In a letter to Mayor Leo Fontaine, Gerardi cautions, "The Woonsocket Education Department is not agreeing that the budget, as approved, is meeting the BEP (Basic Education Program) and may take further action to determine that."  

"The way I see it, it's really not a choice to support this budget.  We either support it or are in contempt of court," said Committeewoman Linda Majewski.  Majewski pointed out that the department had lost 4.7 million from the budget since 2007. "We have made cuts that are draconian."  Last week, Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Flaherty denied the committee's appeal for a stay from the budget approved by the city.

"It's not over yet, believe me," said Committeewoman Eleanor Nadeau. "Mr. Bruce, under oath, said he paid all our bills, which is not the truth."  Finance Director Thomas Bruce took emergency control of Education Department spending in October, when Mayor Leo Fontaine filed suit against the WED, claiming that state law prohibits an education department from running on deficit spending. "Bills come flying back unpaid," said Nadeau.   

The total school budget for the 2010-2011 school year, including all anticipated state aid is $60,284,784.  The amount is $1,710,886 less than the total anticipated revenue for the 2009-2010 school year. 

"I will also be supporting this, this evening, reluctantly," said Committee Chairman Marc Dubois.  "I hate banking our budget on 'are we going to have a long winter?' I don't like rolling the dice when it comes to health care, fuel, electricity and everything else."

In other matters before the group, Committeewoman Anita McGuire-Forcier voted against a motion to pay the legal fees for Attorney Richard Ackerman.  According to McGuire-Forcier, her vote was not a reflection on Ackerman's performance but on  the handling of the vote to hire the attorney, which took place in a closed door session when she was not present.

"They decided in a meeting to hire legal council to go to Supreme Court and then they did not report out their votes, so I had no idea that it was done," McGuire-Forcier said. On Nov 3, the other four Committee members voted unanimously to hire Ackerman for $200 per hour.  Chairman Dubois and Attorney Ackerman agreed that the decision not to report the vote was not a violation of the state's open meetings law as it was part of litigation. The law requiring the committee to report closed door negotiations includes an exemption for situations in which disclosure would jeopardize any strategy, negotiation or investigation related to the discussion.