Galligan: When Will Budget Commission Wrap?

WARWICK, RI — School Committee Chairman Shaun Galligan will send a letter to the City Council and Mayor Frank Picozzi asking how and when the Warwick Schools Budget Commission dissolves.

The Committee voted unanimously Tuesday authorizing Galligan to reach out to the administration.

Galligan said he wants to know if the school committee will be notified when the Budget Commission is officially dissolved.

“Is there some sort of grand finale to this?,” Galligan asked the Committee’s legal counsel, Andrew Henneous. “We’re expected to provide oversight (of department expenses) but the legislation is technically still in play. So we can provide that oversight but then we’re assuming it’s going on to another entity or commission.”

Last month, the Committee declined to vote on the City Budget Commission’s Five Year Deficit Reduction Plan.  Galligan condemned the way certain figures were calculated in the commission’s plan and said he could not support it.

In particular, Galligan criticized a failure to budget $2.1 million in maintenance of effort for the school department into the plan.

The Auditor General has approved the Deficit Reduction Plan, Galligan said.

Galligan asked Craig Enos, the Director of Finance, if he was still forwarding weekly expenses to the city.

“We had been,” Enos said. “We did receive the communication from the Auditor General that the deficit reduction plan was approved but since then we really haven’t been approving anything. There were some emergency purchases that were going back and forth that we did communicate with the city. At the last budget commission meeting, we did approve some purchases and those have all gone through.”

Budget Commission Steering Spending Since 2025

The legislation creating the Warwick Schools Budget Commission was requested by a resolution of the Warwick City Council in January 2025, after Mayor Picozzi proposed it upon learning that the school district faced a surprise mid-year $9 million deficit. The School Committee later reduced that figure to $5.7 million, just prior to the Budget Commission taking over Warwick School Department spending.

The School Committee will hold a public hearing on the FY’27 budget May 6.

New High Schools Update: Cranes & Planes

John Bates from Left Field Project Management gave an update on the new Toll Gate and Pilgrim High Schools.

By the spring of 2025, Bates said the Office of the Project Manager had filed 87 notices of proposed permanent structures for both schools including all light poles and all 4 building corners with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA determined whether the structures posed an “air navigation hazard.”

The tallest permanent structure among the filings was the sports field lighting at 70 feet. After some initial resistance, the FAA approved the request.

FAA  officials disapproved of the use of a 180-ft. construction crane. A 119 foot crane was later approved for use.

Bates noted the shorter crane requires more crane setups, use of a lull forklift, and additional time. Dimeo Construction has created an allowance budget for overtime to mitigate schedule impacts.

“I don’t mind criticism,” committee member David Testa said. “People want to criticize the project and stuff like that but criticism based on bull****  I’m not going to tolerate.That’s exactly what this was with respect to the FAA. It’s basically unfair play. I want to commend you guys again for the job that you’re doing and the diligence you’re doing with the project.”

The full meeting can be viewed on the Warwick Public Schools YouTube channel.