Committee Cans State Police Probe

There will be no state police investigation of the Woonsocket Education Department's $7-million budget shortfall, despite assertions by two School Committee members that some past employees may have violated state laws.

At Wednesday night's meeting, the committee voted 3-2 against requesting a police probe, with only Christopher Roberts and chairwoman Anita Mcguire Forcier in favor. 

Committee member Vimala Phongsavanh used the discussion to denounce the name calling and fingerpointing that in recent weeks has become common at Woonsocket public meetings.

"This feeds a culture of hate and revenge," she said. "These mistakes didn't happen overnight. I'm exhausted from blaming everyone we can think of. We've been making headline news for outrageous things."

"I'm inclined to agree," said committee member Eleanor Nadeau. "Our agendas no longer have anything to do with education ... We had professionals, auditors, look into this. We're underfunded. That's the crux of the problem. We don't have the money to do the job."

"You need probable cause to bring in the state police," added committee member John Donlon, a retired police officer. "For someone to get up here and grandstand — I'm sick of it."

"It's not about revenge," McGuire Forcier replied. "This is about accountability. There were procedures that were not followed. There were state reports filed with the wrong numbers. That's against the law."

Had the committee voted yes, a letter would have been sent to Colonel Steven O'Donnell of the Rhode Island State Police. The document, drafted by Roberts, accused former school department employees of "financial misconduct."

He also alleged someone may have changed a page of an employment contract after it was approved by the committee.

"If either or both of these scenarios are true," the letter read, "they represent illegal behavior and a violation of the public trust by appointed school officials. The truth must be discovered, and in the event of any illegal behavior, those responsible must be brought to justice. Your investigative experience and ability to subpeona (if necessary) are tools not at our disposal alone."  

"I'm not saying anyone's guilty," Roberts said of the letter. "But I believe we owe it to the taxpayers. We have a duty to make sure nothing illegal happened."

McGuire Forcier added that while she endorsed an investigation, she doesn't believe embezzlement took place. "There are no moneybags buried in someone's backyard," she said.

Though no names were mentioned in the letter, two former employees have been castigated at public meetings in recent weeks: former Superintendent Robert Gerardi, who now works as superintendent in Maynard, MA, and former business manager Stacy Busby.

School Committee members have charged the two failed to inform them about the impending budget shortfall. And at a recent City Hall meeting, City Councilman Marc Dubois charged someone had changed language in Busby's contract after the School Committee approved it, eliminating language that allowed them to fire her if she failed to perform her duties.

Dubois, who last year chaired the School Committee, endorsed that contract with his signature. He has charged some Woonsocket residents have since tried to make him a scapegoat for the budget crisis.

During the discussion, school department attorney Richard Ackerman asked Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan if she ever questioned Busby about the school department's finances. Donoyan replied she had done so on numerous occassions, and that Busby told her there would be a surplus. She said she was so glad to hear those assurances, she told Busby, "I just love you."

During a public comment period before the vote, good government activist Lorraine Corey jumped the gun by congratulating the committee for requesting a police probe. "The perception of Woonsocket is not good," she said. "Asking the state police to investigate shows we have nothing to hide. The investigation will help people to understand how we got here once and for all. The taxpayers of Woonsocket deserve an answer."

The crowd of onlookers responded with applause. Later, when the committee shot down the proposal, someone was heard to moan "Oh, brother!"

Not everyone is pointing the finger at Busby. Some have said the school department's financial problems began well before she was hired. Others have charged the school department should have had other professionals working with her.

One resident at the meeting spoke against the proposed investigation. "You cannot put the blame on two people," said Donna Houle. "We were robbed by the city because they level-funded us, and we were robbed by the state because they cut our school aid."

Busby's name came up again when the committee discussed her employment status. By unanimous vote, the committee ended her $90,000-a-year employment contact. That action was largely symbolic, however, as Busby has been on leave since mid-January, and has not been paid since early this month.

The committee also endorsed new rules for employment contracts. Ackerman must now review each one and sign every page using a blue pen that won't appear on machine-generated copies. The School Committee chairwoman and the superintendent must do the same.

In other business, the committee announced more bad news. Durham, the company that provides school bus transportation, is now owed $500,000, and has threatened to end services if they are not paid by April 5.

According to McGuire Forcier, the state will likely start paying Durham and other companies seeking to collect past-due bills, by using aid money set aside for Woonsocket schools. "I don't know if they will pay our vendors the full amount," she said. "If they do, it will devastate us." 

The committee voted to table a plan that called for laying off school cafeteria monitors as a cost-saving measure. They want more information first. Donlon and Nadeau opposed the motion.

Elementary school principal Donna Cloutier urged the committee to keep lunch monitors in the schools. She argued eliminating their positions would mean only small savings because their pay is low and their hours have been reduced. What's more, she said, young children need the help and security they provide.

Jeff Partington, president of the Woonsocket Teachers Guild, also cautioned against layoffs. "It might help to develop a formula that determines the right number of monitors per student," he said. "You may find we don't have enough."

Tom Lambert, who heads the union representing school janitors, raised safety concerns. He also asked the committee to tell him who would take over the clean-up duties lunch monitors perform. "It won't be the janitors," he said.

School department retirees may also get a financial pinch sometime this spring. The committee voted unanimously to send a letter to 200 former employees who recieve health insurance as a retirement benefit. They'll be asked to "share the sacrifices" by accepting larger deductibles and larger co-pays. There are no details for the plan as yet, but they may be asked to pay a larger share of the premium as well.

Roberts warned retirees they could end up paying more if Woonsocket is forced into recievership. "You can take a haircut, or you can be beheaded," he said.

At least one group is pitching in financially to help with the budget crisis. The committee thanked the Woonsocket Lions Club for donating 40 cases of copy paper to the schools.