School District to Receive 2.25% Contribution Increase
The school budget passed with a 2.25 percent contribution increase over the FY12 budget with in a 6-3 vote with opposition from the members representing the town of Warren.
Correction: The Joint Finance Committee approved a 2.25 percent increase in town contributions. Overall, school budget will increase .45 percent over FY12.
After the Joint Finance Committee's Warren representatives were shot down in a 3-6 vote in a motion to level fund the district, the Joint finance Committee passed the Bristol Warren Regional School District FY13 budget with a 2.25 percent increase in contribution from the two towns over the FY12 budget. The budget passed 6-3, with all Bristol representatives voting in favor and all members representing Warren voting against.
The meeting drew less than 100 teachers, administrators, school committee members and members of the public who attended in either support or opposition to the school's requested budget. Only 16 members of the public voiced their opinions in the forum and all but one showed support for the budget increase.
According to Committee Chairman David Barboza, the meeting produced a fair compromise.
"The compromise was good because it balanced the district needs with what Bristol and Warren can afford," Barboza said.
Though the school district had requested the maximum cap allowed by law, a 4 percent increase, and the Town of Warren requested to level fund the district, the Joint Finance Committee made the final call to settle with a number "in the middle" of the two requests.
The school's request of a combined contribution of $1.3 million over the FY12 budget ($681,540 additional from Bristol and $624,567 additional from Warren) was cut by more than a third from a motion from Bristol Town Councilor Kenneth Marshall. In Marshall's motion, he requested that the towns contriubute a total of $734,316, or 2.25 percent over the FY12 contributions. The additional funds are broken down to contributions of $318,087 (a 1.52% increase) from the town of Bristol and $416,229 (a 3.54% increase) from the town of Warren.
In Bristol, the Town Administrator's current proposed budget already accounts for an additional allocation to the district up to $300,000 without increasing the taxes. With a contribution of $318,087, taxpayers in Bristol may see a slight increase in the proposed rate if no cuts are made by the Town Council.
In Warren, the scene is a bit more grim. When the Warren Town Council approved the proposed FY13 town budget, members of the council voted to level fund the district. Councilor Cathie Tattrie also voiced her concerns prior to Tuesday's meeting regarding the impact an increased contribution could have on the town's budget and tax rate, noting that fulfilling the initial request would raise tax rate by $0.45. Warren Councilors state that the increased contribution will cause an increased tax rate as well as significant cuts to the municipal budget.
"We know that the town of Warren is struggling, but [the contributions] will create a tax increase for both towns," Barboza said. "We have to make a compromise."
In total, the Bristol Warren Regional School District will receive $33,387,000 in funding from Bristol and Warren.
Still Broke
7:45 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Obviously the compromise was NOT good Mr. Barboza. Did you not hear the impact that this will have on Warren? The only way it is good is if you are from Bristol. Warren is getting the short end of the stick. I wonder what happens when Warren files for bankruptcy?????
Antonio A Teixeira
8:39 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
A very difficult decision to balance the School District's needs and the Towns' ability to maintain the support to sustain its programs. I am confident that Warren' s leaders will be creative to minimize the impact in town services. It was a very civil and cooperative process for all the parties involved. Well done!!!!
Dee
8:55 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Proud of warrens town council members for trying to stand up against the ever increasing school budget! Someone needs to stop them it is out of control!
andrea smiley
8:58 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
I agree with you Dee. I attended the Warren budget workshop's and saw the Town Councilors and Manager struggle with decisions that would adversly impact the town.
John Coccio
8:32 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Dee, with all due respect, I think that you should look at your total town budget before saying the school budget is out of control. According to the powerpoint presentation given by YOUR elected officials, Warren's municipal budget has "exploded" by more than 50% since 2008, while the school budget increase has been a more "modest" 20%
BOB I
9:21 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
what part of "broke" does the school comm. not understand.
ROBERT PATTERSON
10:07 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
THIS COMMITTEE IS OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE RESIDENTS OF BRISTOL COUNTY,,,I DON'T KNOW OF ANYONE(TAXPAYER) WHO IS RECEIVING A RAISE INCREASE IN THEIR INCOME OF ANY % , SO WHY RAISE THE SCHOOL BUDGET? GET REAL GENTLEMEN AND LADIES,,THIS CANNOT CONTINUE. WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE...PLEASE THINK OUT OF THE BOX AND CUT.
Ray Andrews
11:36 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
In complete seriousness: why are they functioning as a single district ?
Warrenite
12:51 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Are these schools really preparing our kids to be gainfully employed in the future or are they just educating them to pass NECAP testing so they can say they do a great job????????
David Silvia
2:21 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
back many moons ago, when bristol/warren wanted to regionlize, the main reason was it was suppose to cost less together then seprate, well what happen, why is the budget favoring Bristol, and Warren is going broke? Whats wrong with this picture?
3 All the Way
10:05 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
David, What part of the Budget is favoring Bristol????
3 All the Way
10:04 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Warren is going broke because Past Town Councils were never ready for the future...I must tip the hatto the Bristol Town Councils past and present who had the vision to get ready for the lean times.
Now if Warren can't pay there fair share...the Regionization should be TERMINATED. The Warren town Fathers did not plan well, I as a Bristol Resident should not have to BAIL OUT WARREN.
David Silvia
6:54 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
THAT THOUGHT WOULD BRING A WAR BETWEEN BOTH TOWNS, ALL THE SCHOOLS WERE REBUILT FOR REGIONIZATION, BUT THE SCHOOL DEPT NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND YOU CANT KEEP SQUEZING THE ROCK. YOU HAVE TO MANY CHIEFS RUNNING THE SHOW, GET RID OF THEM AND WATCH THE BUDGET DROP. 35 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN RI AND 35 SCHOOL SUPERDINTENDENT BEING PAID 100 GRAND OR BETTER WHEN 2 OR 3 COULD DO THE SAME JOB, THAT IS WHERE THE BUDGET COULD BE TRIMMED HERE AND THOUGHOUT RI
DownTown
7:05 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Warren will be eligible to create savings since their pensions are funded under 60% while Bristol is over 60% but how that will work with the school funding etc is hard to say because I doubt this situation was thought of by Chafee.
Certainly at this point Warren has to feel like they no longer have control over their own budget.
David is correct in that the sole purpose of regional schools was to save money and due to lack of a funding formula till recently the extra state money kept coming. The school system here certainly did not work towards savings with that extra money, instead increasing embedded costs.
This funding situation will get worse and worse over the next 10 years till we are asked to give an extra $9 million plus the raises they will want along the way and the back pack patrol will scream and hold their breath until they get their funding.
ROBERT PATTERSON
11:09 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
LETS GET REAL FOLKS,,,,WARREN NEEDS TO GET OUT OF THE SCHOOL BUSINESS,,,AND IT IS A BUSINESS,,,LETS GO TO A VOUCHER SYSTEM AND ELLIMINATE THE SALARIES, PENSIONS,FOOD SERVICES,BUS SERVICES, AND LET THE PARENTS DECIDE WHERE TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO GET A GOOD EDUCATION.