Time Line of City/Schools/Union Interactions

5/4/00 School Committee requests budget of $118.3 million

5/15/00 Mayor Announces FY2001 Budget. School Committee share is 57% or $115,577,000

2/12/01 Executive Order Creating Task Force to Look at Creation of an Alternative High School in the City. Committee (led by School Committee Chairman Frank Picozzi) met repeatedly and made recommendations that an alternative high school was not needed but that an alternative education program be instituted in the junior high schools

5/3/01 School Committee Trims Superintendent Budget Request to $125 million

5/16/01 Avedisian Proposes FY2002 Budget of $220 million. School’s share is 122,377.638. Budget of $122,962,138 appropriated by the City Council

6/30/01 School Department Fiscal Year Ends. Audit shows surplus of $827,388.

5/01/02 School Committee requests budget of $131,378,000

5/15/02 Mayor proposes school department budget of $129,941,156

6/01/02 Council appropriates budget of $130,436,156

6/30/02 School Department Fiscal Year Ends. Audit shows surplus of $1,364,347

1/22/03 Executive Order Creating Community Resource Board for Oakland Beach School. Committee (led by Councilwoman Donna Travis) met several times to identify needs of this school. Test scores improved rapidly and committee was abolished

1/22/03 Executive Order Creating Committee to Adopt Standards for Mandatory Community Service for High School Graduation. Committee (chaired by School Committee Chair Joyce Andrade) never met. City created VolunTeen program in 2004 to take care of this responsibility

4/01/03 Four months before the contract expires, School Committee and union agree to start negotiations

5/01/03 School Department asks for budget allocation of $140,826,000

5/15/03 Mayor proposes school budget of $135,871,341

6/01/03 Council appropriates $135,653,602

6/30/03 School Department Fiscal Year Ends. Audit shows surplus of $720,438

7/1/03 Executive Order Creating Review Committee to Look at Educational Spending. School Committee never appointed members so committee could not meet

8/27/03 Mayor again tells School Committee and union that he would go back to the City Council with a request for additional funds if necessary to end labor dispute

8/27/03 Mayor meets with Superintendent and Chair of School Committee to discuss negotiations

8/28/03 Schools open without a contract

9/4/03 Daniel Sheehan resigns from School Committee

10/3/03 Warwick Teachers Union takes vote of no confidence in Superintendent

10/7/03 Union votes to ask Mayor to re-enter negotiations. School Committee Chair says Committee will think about involving Mayor

10/16/03 Mayor re-enters negotiations

10/21/03 Mayor meets with union to discuss negotiations

10/22/03 Negotiation session held at Pilgrim High School. After discussions, decision made to focus on non-monetary issues. List of items for next meeting is formulated and attorney for School Committee to prepare material on these issues for next meeting

10/30/03 Mayor’s flight delayed in Charlotte. School Committee attorney has no material prepared (as agreed to at meeting of 10/22/03) and negotiations fall apart

11/03/03 Picozzi asks Mayor to use his office to meet with union president to narrow issues and define negotiations. Upon learning of the meeting, rest of School Committee expresses anger

11/04/03 Negotiating session again at Pilgrim High School

11/10/03 Gorton PTO forum – no union representation

11/12/03 At urging of both the union and the School Committee, Mayor asks State Department of Labor and Training to assign new mediator

11/12/03 Gerald Cobleigh appointed new mediator

11/17/03 Terminated mediator says School Committee at fault for mired talks

11/26/03 Mayor and mediator meet

12/11/03 Mayor and mediator meet with union

12/11/03 Mayor and mediator meet with Superintendent and School Committee Chair

12/14/03 Cushman Sworn in to School Committee

3/00/04 Superintendent’s budget request totals $150,842,925

4/01/04 School Committee submits $145 million budget to Mayor

5/10/04 Mayor recommends budget for schools in the amount of $140,653,602

5/27/04 Junior high school program restructuring moves forward with School Committee member Joe Harrington and the Mayor taking roles in proposing plans for both sides to consider

6/1/04 School Committee votes to abolish the alternative learning program at Gorton Junior High School – the work of the alternative high school committee that Picozzi had chaired

6/7/04 Executive Order Requiring Municipal Management Employees to Pay Portion of Health Insurance

6/7/04 Executive Order Ending Longevity Payments for New Municipal Management employees

6/09/04 Council appropriates budget of $138,653,602 for schools

6/22/04 School Committees votes not to have administrators make co-payments on health insurance. At same time, puts co-payment from union members back on the bargaining table. School Committee does vote that its five members will co-pay

6/30/04 School Department Fiscal Year Ends. Audit shows surplus of $2,015,041

8/22/04 Mayor and Mediator agree that process is at standstill and that subpoenas should be used to force negotiations to continue

8/23/04 State announces that Oakland Beach School tests have improved – school is removed from low performing list by Department of Education

8/24/04 Mediator Cobleigh uses subpoena powers to convene weekend mediation sessions

8/25/04 Frank J. Picozzi resigns from School Committee

8/28/04 Under subpoena, negotiations proceed at State Department of Labor & Training. School Committee budget figures are presented to union. No response. School Committee votes to go to non-binding arbitration

11/2/04 Andrade and Friel are victorious in election for School Committee. Member Joe Harrington did not seek re-election

1/9/05 Executive Order Creating Special Commission to Study Out of District Day Placements. Committee still addressing issue

1/9/05 Executive Order Creating Special Commission to Study Adult Education Programs with the Community College of Rhode Island. Committee still meeting

1/11/05 Lucille Mota-Costa elected to replace Picozzi on School Committee

2/15/05 Mayor asks Superintendent to submit budget at half of state tax cap. Response from Dooley: “…he can’t tell us how much we can ask for.”

2/26/05 Superintendent’s asks School Committee for budget of $156,555.453

3/3/05 School Committee presents $149.2 million budget – Seeking $8.8 million in new city money

5/11/05 Mayor proposes $258.4 million budget. School share is $141.9 Million

5/11/05 Mayor suggests changes in school procedures to save $2.1 million. Dooley Response: Mayor does not understand schools. Dooley says suggestion to combine school and city business functions cannot happen

5/13/05 Dooley says budget is smoke and mirrors in “highly personal attack” on Mayor

6/4/05 Mota-Costa and Friel invite Council President to meet with them and union to discuss status of negotiations and see if plan of action for resolution could be formulated. Other School Committee members and school department staff show up at meeting and nothing is accomplished

6/09/05 Council appropriates $141,884,405. Also allows School Department to utilize some lease purchase money for new buses

6/13/05 Providence Journal Editorial Praises East Greenwich For Merging School and Town Functions in the same way Dooley Said it could not be done

6/30/05 School Department Fiscal Year Ends. Audit is underway

7/28/05 Executive Order Creating Committee to Oversee Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council Study. Committee just activated