UPDATE: School Committee Vice Chair Says Board Should Handle Deficits

School Committee Vice Chair Vimala Phongsavanh, who cast the lone dissenting vote on a resolution asking the state to take over Woonsocket Schools Wednesday night, thinks the board should handle its deficit crisis itself.

The resolution, introduced by Committee Chair Anita Forcier-McGuire and Committee member Chris Roberts, passed 4 to 1.

Elliot Krieger, communications director for RIDE Commissioner Deborah Gist, spoke to RIFuture.org about the process, noting there are legal steps required before the state would step in.

A FAQ document on the state's education funding formula (see attached .pdf) states, "While RI General Law (R.I.G.L.) 16-1-10 allows districts to petition RIDE to assume the supervision, control, and management of the public schools, the takeover does not automatically occur without a task force looking into the municipality’s ability to finance the schools."

In a press conference this morning during an event with Congressman Jim Langevin at the Rhode Island Nurses Institute Middle College Charter High School in Providence, Gist spoke about the process, noting RIDE would examine taxable wealth in the community, the rate at which the community is taxing, and, "We'll also look at how those funds are being used."

Gist said she didn't know how long the process would take, since the only precedent was in Central Falls in 1991. She said she's reviewing records from that intervention. "It's not something that happens every day," she said.

Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan told the Woonsocket Budget Commission yesterday that the while the school department recommended asking 54 teachers back from layoffs, the schools do not have the money to pay those teachers. Though the department faces a $10 million deficit this year, the teachers would be paid from next year's budget, which faces a potential $7 million shortfall as well. 

"What we're doing is just kind of shipping it off," Phongsavanh said of the request.

Roberts said he'd prefer the School Committee handled the deficits on its own as well, but he said other members of the board have demonstrated a lack of will to tackle the tough decisions necessary.

For instance, Roberts said, when he submitted a resolution to discuss asking retirees to re-negotiate medical benefits May 23, the measure died when no one on the board seconded it (Forcier-McGuire, who supported the resolution, was not present at that meeting). A matching co-pay alone would save the district at least $400,000 next year, Roberts said.

Roberts said he'd have re-submitted the resolution by now, but before he could the governor appointed the Woonsocket Budget Commission to take over city finances, so now he intends to bring it to their attention.

Forcier-McGuire said the request for state takeover was necessary. "I don't enjoy the idea of the local community losing control," she said. If the state takes over, the School Committee won't be in control of the department any longer, but the deficits would be the state's responsibility. She said that's fitting, since the state's funding formula contributed to the deficits. "We're in this mess because we're not properly funded by the state," Forcier-McGuire said.

Roberts echoed that sentiment, noting the strain of insufficient state aid has been exacerbated by continuing unfunded mandates. Poverty and special education costs have also contributed to the problem, he said.

Forcier-McGuire said the School Committee and Superintendent are in over their heads. "We need to put our ego aside and ask for help," she said.

Both Phongsavanh and Forcier-McGuire said they weren't confident the state would accept the School Committee's request. "I think it's highly unlikely that they will," Forcier-McGuire said.

Phongsavanh said if the state were to take over, it would encourage other troubled school departments to hand their problems over to the state. She said she doesn't think Gist wants that.

"We're not Central Falls here. We're Woonsocket, and I think we can still pull out of this," Phongsavanh said.