Budget Commission Seeks School Grants Control

WARWICK, RI — At Tuesday night’s Warwick School Committee meeting [WATCH on YouTube], Chairman Shaun Galligan said 2025 was “challenging and transformative” for the district, due in part to oversight of the Budget Commission, which now seeks control of school grants.

Galligan noted the district’s “difficult fiscal situation” [READ: Budget Commission Coverage] and said the Committee “had learned to navigate a new City (Budget) Commission.”

That navigation continues to provide twists. Director of Finance Craig Enos told the Committeed that the City’s Budget Commission may be looking to oversee state and federal grants for the district.

“I find that completely and utterly ridiculous,” said committee member David Testa. “Some people on that committee know damn well that it is ridiculous. Unless you’re trying to prove that we’re somehow mishandling grant funds. I’ve been on this committee for 12 years. Never once have grants been misused or anything like that. Federal and state grant funds don’t need an oversight. That is just abhorrent to me.”

Galligan asked Enos if the grants were at any risk of being delayed.

“My argument to the Budget Commission was ‘you have no authority over the expenditure of the federal grants,” Enos replied. “RIDE has already given approval. The private schools have made all of their submissions. I said ‘you have no authority over that. But they don’t agree with that. We are continuing to have dialogue as to whether or not their approval will continue for that so time will tell.”

Galligan:  Warwick Schools test scores show promise

In more positive and academic matters, Galligan reviewed promising recent test scores for the district [READ: WPS Bests ’24-’25 RI English, Trails Math Scores] 

“Our elementary schools showed remarkable progress in Math and ELA (English Language Arts),” Galligan noted. “Many performing at or above state averages. Pilgrim High School is now a three-star school. Winman Middle School stands proudly as the only fully NEASC-accredited middle school in the state of Rhode Island. We broke ground on two new high schools, projects that represent not just buildings, but the future of our district and our community.”

Galligan said it was also a year of transitions, with the retirement last April of Superintendent Lynn Dambruch, who had been a part of the district for 40 years. Assistant Superintendent William McCaffrey stepped in on an interim basis before formally taking on the position.

“2025 was not without its trials, but it was a year of growth and a turning point toward a brighter future filled with endless possibilities for this district,” Galligan said.

New Warwick high schools project update, Jan. 6 Forum

The Committee also heard an update on construction of the new Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools.

John Bates, Project Manager for Left Field Project Management, told the Committee that the concrete foundation, frost walls and footing for Toll Gate are now complete. Underground plumbing is being installed this month. Structural steel is set to arrive onsite next week. 

“Things will start to move very quickly when that happens,” Bates explained.

Regarding Pilgrim, Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management has given their approval of Left Field’s remedial approach to cap the site “with new clean material.”

“For the last several weeks, we’ve been stripping topsoil,” Bates added. “This is organic, unstable material. It’s great for landscaping. It’s not great for a structural base for a building. We’re taking it off-site because of the contamination issues we are facing. The next step will be to import clean structural soil onsite to bring the site to a condition to support the construction of a new building.”

A public forum on the new high schools will be held on Jan. 6.