Mayor Scott Avedisian and School Committee member Christopher Friel announced today that the School Committee has formally approved repayment of $1,843,201 it owed the city.

Several months ago, Friel, who served as School Committee chairman for two years until January, when Bethany Furtado was elected to the post, and Superintendent Horoschak announced that an examination of school funds as of June 30, 2010 showed a School Department surplus of roughly $6 million. At that time, they informed Avedisian that a portion of that money would be reserved to repay the city the balance of debt it had accumulated over two fiscal years.

“Over the past several years, as we discussed the School Department’s deficit, Mr. Friel made it clear that repaying the city would be a priority when funds became available,” Avedisian said. “I thank him for making good on that promise. These funds will be used to shore up our unreserved fund balance, which was greatly reduced in the City Council’s current fiscal year budget.”

“While it has always been the intent of the Warwick School Committee to repay the deficit as expeditiously as possible,” Friel noted, “credit must be given to Superintendent Horoschak, as well as the Warwick School Department’s staff, for instituting fiscal controls which have resulted in two consecutive years of surplus.”

“In addition to bolstering the City of Warwick’s unreserved surplus, this repayment further evidences the Warwick School Committee’s willingness to work with the Mayor and City Council in addressing the difficult fiscal issues which lie ahead,” Friel added.