Committee to Discuss Substitute Pay, Tech Specialist

WARWICK, RI — The School Committee meets tonight, 6 p.m., at Warwick Veterans Middle School to review the school calendar, substitute teacher rates, and the FY 2024 monthly financial report.

For the streaming-conscious interested in watching, the meeting will be visible on youtube.

On rates for substitutes, Kim Ruggieri, director of Human Resources, said in her written presentation that  the new rates would be higher than pre-COVID, but lower than rates during the pandemic.

“The grant funding we received during the pandemic is no longer available. The amount paid to substitutes in the 2022-2023 school year exceeded the budgeted amount in the FY23 budget by a substantial amount. At the time we built the FY24 budget, we did not have the final figures so the same amount was carried over. Therefore, in an effort to remain competitive yet fiscally responsible, I am proposing the following substitute rates for FY24 that include the same increase as the corresponding union.”

The School Committee will also consider adding a tech integration specialist to the staff.

“The Special Education needs of the district have grown exponentially since the onset of the 2022-2023 school year. There are currently 1697 students with active IEPs in Warwick Schools,” wrote Jennifer Barber and Dave Aulenbach, co-directors for Special Services, in their proposal.

“To date, there have been 279 additional students receiving special education services since September 2022. Of these new and current iep students, there has been a significant increase in assistive technology needs. The Special Education Department is legally responsible to
ensure that the technology needs identified in a student’s iep are provided with fidelity. Failure to do so could result in legal ramifications,” the proposal continued.

The start of the meeting will include an adjournment into executive session to discuss Personnel Matters – a disciplinary hearing concerning a non-certified employee and potential litigation regarding State education aid. The regular meeting is expected to continue at 7 p.m.

The full folder of documents for the meeting are available on the School Committee’s page of the Warwick School District website.