October 23, 2006 Contact: Sue Baker
For Immediate Release 738-2000
Avedisian creates committee on School Finances
Council Has Held Off Action since May
WARWICK – Mayor Scott Avedisian today announced that he will issue an Executive Order to create a committee comprised of school department officials and municipal officials that will study ways to consolidate and integrate city and school functions and to implement recommendations that were made as part of the recent study conducted by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC).
The School Committee last May unanimously adopted a resolution to form such a committee. Action on such a resolution has been pending before the City Council since that time.
“It is vitally important that we move forward with implementation of key findings of the RIPEC report; that we move to coordinate and to take advantage of the best attributes of both the school department and municipal government; and that we seize the opportunity to make significant and fundamental change in the way that city government and the schools operate and co-operate,” the Mayor said.
“The school department historically takes up more than half of the city’s annual budget. Although it is the mayor who develops and administers the annual budget, and the city council which ultimately decides on the overall level of annual appropriation, only the school committee and the school department can decide how the money is to be spent each year, and they do this completely independent of any city influence or oversight. A new Schools Superintendent will be chosen soon and now is the time to make lasting changes designed to reduce the tensions that inevitably develop between these branches of our local government,” he continued.
“We have an opportunity to embark on a new beginning and I believe that this Executive Order-created committee will allow us to chart a new direction and a new cooperative partnership between schools and the city,” he concluded.
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