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Politics & Government

NK Town Council Will Be Asked to Pay for School Roof

School Committee wants to tap the town's $9 million surplus for the Davisville Middle School roof and reduce the upcoming bond request by $2 million.

’s roof has been leaking for years and, according to the North Kingstown School Committee, the responsibility to remedy the problem lies with the North Kingstown Town Council. 

"No child needs to sit in a school building with rain falling on them," said Melvoid Benson.

According to discussion during Tuesday night’s committee meeting, the town stopped making contributions to school capital projects several years ago. Since then, the town has amassed excess tax revenues – $1 million last year, according to school committee member Larry Ceresi – into a “rainy day” fund. The empty capital improvement program (CIP) fund is forcing the School Committee to ask voters to approve a for the roof and for health and safety repairs to other schools – though 30 percent of the bill will be covered by the state.

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At its Jan. 16 meeting, the School Committee voted to send a letter to the Town Council asking the town to replace the middle school roof from its surplus.

If the town refuses, said committee chair Kimberly Page, the committee can tell voters, "We exhausted all the other possibilities."

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In other finance-related issues, a speaker and School Attorney Mary Ann Carroll raised questions about the s and higher-than-expected expenses in this year's school budget.

NK resident Richard August, a member of the town's Audit Committee, said that the signed before Judge Brian Stern in December authorized the town to conduct a special audit of the school Basic Education Plan and get recommendations on ways to balance the budget.

But the school department has already sent the state Auditor General a plan to balance the budget. If the $28,500 audit commissioned by the town recommends different cuts, August asked, which plan will the schools have to follow?

Carroll said that she and an attorney for the town are scheduled to meet with Judge Stern Jan. 24, before the next school committee meeting. The town's attorney has already asked Carroll to have the school committee promise that it will not spend any more than what is authorized in its budget.

Carroll said that while the committee intends to stay within budget limits, it is impossible to predict what unexpected disaster might lead to unplanned spending, and she will not recommend signing such a pledge.

School Superintendent Phil Auger said that he plans to collaborate with the town manager on possible small-scale consolidation issues, including , rather than turning over leadership of the school IT department to the town.

Several committee members supported that approach. They pointed out that the Elert study recommended spending a million dollars in school IT infrastructure upgrades. "No way that is going to happen," said Lynda Avanzato.

Richard Welch said that the only potential savings from consolidation identified by the study was $72,000. But as a presentation by Assistant Superintendant Michele Humbyrd outlined earlier in the evening, state and federal requirements will demand much more IT use by students and teachers in coming years.

"The people closest to this would make the best decisions," Auger said.

In another presentation, School Athletic Director Jim Marcello provided details on how he is meeting the $30,000 cut to the athletic budget.

He reduced salaries by approximately $17,000, rather than the $20,000 budgeted, but he is saving more than expected on ice rink time to offset that. He also plans to have parents transport students to some nearby spring athletic events, and the department received more than expected in gate receipts.

 

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