Warwick Schools

I have dedicated the last 4 years as a School Committee member to my wife and children, my family, the students of Warwick Schools and to the Taxpayers of Warwick. I pledge to continue working for the citizens of Warwick. When I ran for office in 2008, many people told me I was crazy to decide to run when the schools were in bad shape and there had... been 2 years of deficits. These deficits totaled about $3.2 Million. Good decision making allowed me to be able to pay back the city the full deficit amount and repair many of the schools that needed work during my 4 years on the committee. I am not afraid of a challenge and wanted to make sure the schools improved for my kids' education. Since being elected, I helped balance the budget each year. The two biggest projects of the last 4 years were the Pilgrim Roof replacement and the beginning of Fire Code upgrades this year. Each of these projects came in within their budgets. There are still 2 more years of Fire Code upgrades necessary to bring the schools up to New State requirements. When I arrived on the committee, the Warwick Independent School Employee (WISE) union had been working without a contract for several years. I helped resolve the contract and this lead to union concessions, savings for the schools and most important for the employees, stability. The WISE Union was the first union in Warwick to agree to a co-pay of 20%. Last year, the teacher contract was reaching an end. I helped the school committee and the teachers to reach a temporary agreement that would save the city money again. The one year agreement consisted of the teachers paying a 20% co-pay for the year and an agreement to review and shape the RI Dept of Education evaluation system. As the year passed and we reached the end of our temporary agreement, I helped settle the teacher contract which allowed us to permanently secure the co-pay and for the first time in years modify the Special Education Weighting in Warwick allowing us to continue to service the Special Education students ...Read More