Testa: School Committee Race Q&A

WARWICK, RI — David Testa, a category manager for Gordon Food Service in Taunton, MA who has IEP experience  & spent 15 years studying the district before his  School Committee term, is one of four School Committee candidates Warwick voters will choose among Nov. 5.

“In my professional life I manage a $125 million category and lead a team of 28, so I understand budgets and I understand what leadership means. I know how to work with people. I think people can trust me to be fair and honest and those three things – leadership, trust, and honesty – are among the qualities I bring to the School Committee,” Testa said in a 2016 interview/ Q&A  for the School Committee race.

Warwick Post posed the following questions to each of the Warwick School Committee candidates, giving each the same amount of time, five days,  to respond with their answers. Candidates were urged to answer the questions directly, and invited to elaborate on each topic after answering the initial question. All the questionnaires have been posted within the same  five-minute window, with a digital dice roll assigning the order each set of answers run on the site, and thus, their order in  the daily newsletter.

Here are Warwick Post’s questions, and Bachus’ answers:

Testa School Committee Race Q&A

WARWICK POST QUESTION 1A: The final bill on the new high schools project is set at $350M, with adjustments and a $28M buffer to guard against cost overruns. As the design process continues, what elements of the design are you most concerned with preserving?

TESTA:  Ideally, of course, I want to preserve everything presented in the recent public forums! LeftField, our Project Manager, has said from the beginning that “hard conversations” would be had – which should not be a surprise to anyone – so we’ll need to see just what, exactly, that entails. That said, I think that what was presented in terms of athletic fields should be preserved as it’s very comparable to what competing districts like Ponagansett and North Kingstown offer; and they are districts that romance some of our student athletes away from Warwick Schools with their athletic offerings. And of course anything that impacts student learning must be preserved above all.

WARWICK POST –  QUESTION 1B : What would you suggest using any unused contingency funding for once site work and demolition are finished in 2027?

TESTA:  I think that would depend on what design changes / revisions have occured up to that point. Any unused contingency funds should be used to put back anything that may have been designated as an ‘add/alt’ (additional or alternate) item. At the end of the day, the two new high schools are for the benefit of all students, and that should be our focus: to provide all students what they need to obtain a fruitful and successful education and to support our educators in accomplishing this goal.

WARWICK POST –  QUESTION 1C) Please share any other thoughts on the new high schools project.

TESTA:  I’ve been a very strong supporter of this project since its inception and remain so. I think we can all agree that anyone having a grandchild who currently attends Pilgrim or Toll Gate, well, that school should not look the same as it did when the grandparent attended that same school ‘back in the day’. This is just not something that we should be proud of as a community.

The final product – two brand new, state of the art, 21st century high schools –  will be dramatically better suited to delivering a 21st century education than what currently exists. That said, we need to be as diligent and creative as we possibly can in the design of these schools to maximize the investment, and always with our students’ education at the forefront of our decision making. While there will certainly be critics of whatever the final product is, we simply cannot let the ‘perfect be the enemy of the good’.

At the end of the day, we can build two new high schools and have the state reimburse us for nearly half of the cost – that is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students, educators, taxpayers, and city! In my view, derailing or killing this project would be the height of foolishness, not to mention completely short-sighted.

WARWICK POST –  QUESTION 2: What steps will you support to limit district operating costs and tax increases?

TESTA: Like most, if not all, school districts, roughly 85% of our budget consists of salaries and benefits. So personnel is an area that needs to be monitored. We need to control overall growth through fair and modest wage increases and by monitoring staffing levels, while realizing that we have to staff to student needs and, also, adequately maintain all our school buildings. Also, we should always look at more efficient ways to do things by leveraging technology, for example. Unfortunately, I think that Warwick Schools sometimes suffers from a “that’s how we’ve always done it” approach which can hinder efficiency.

Additionally, from a benefits perspective, I believe that we should always be looking at options that may offer better products for all employees at a lower cost. We currently offer only Individual or Family plans for healthcare. Does adding an ‘Individual Plus 1’ option for couples with no children lower the overall plan cost for employer and employee? Do our providers need to do a better job at explaining the benefits of, say, an HSA to younger, healthier employees versus a traditional plan? We need to meet the needs of all employees at all stages of life as best we can.

Also, let’s not forget that this district went approximately ten years being, essentially, level-funded which compounds problems as costs rise and you can’t constantly “cut” your way to a balanced budget. That is unsustainable.

Plus, Warwick Schools were also forced to pay bond debt principal & interest during that period which, in my opinion, was utterly ridiculous and further negatively impacted the budget.  Regular, consistent increases in the local allocation to our schools will, by definition, avoid the peaks and valleys (and the flatlines) that have been recent history. Warwick, like all districts, also has to deal with the many unfunded mandates that the State and Federal governments heap on us which ultimately end up being paid for by taxpayers. None of that is right – or fair.

Last, but certainly not least, Warwick has a significant Special Education population and a growing Multi-Language Learner population. Those are among the most expensive populations to educate because of the services required to successfully meet their individual educational needs. Let’s not forget that public schools educate everyone who comes through their doors, regardless of the educational need. That is our duty and responsibility.

WARWICK POST –  QUESTION 3:  Are you confident the planned HVAC air conditioning approach for the new high schools will be effective with increasingly hot weather later and earlier in the year? (https://warwickpost.com/architects-present-toll-gate-pilgrims-new-high-schools-designs/)

TESTA: Yes

WARWICK POST – QUESTION 4A: The School Committee’s fiscal subcommittee is reviewing policies for procurement, purchases, and bids after RI State Police began investigating the district for hiring Jada Trucking without first advertising the work: (https://warwickpost.com/warwick-school-committee-exerts-extra-contract-oversight) What safeguards would you suggest to the School Committee Policy Subcommittee, chaired by Michele Kirby Chapman and Leah Hazelwood?

TESTA: Warwick Schools has good policies in place relative to procurement, purchases, and bids, but as with everything else, we should always be looking to improve how things are done. I’m not convinced that the Jada Trucking issue was primarily a result of a flaw in policy.

That said, there is always room for improvement and I’d suggest that there may be a wider role for the Finance Office as a source in assisting with the ‘vetting’ process and ensuring that all policies are followed by all involved throughout all phases of the process.

WARWICK POST – QUESTION 4B: Please share any other thoughts on the district’s bid and procurement process.

TESTA: If a review of our policies and protocols find that no significant changes are needed, then it’s a matter of ensuring that all staff are educated on the district’s bid and procurement processes and mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance.

Additionally, I do think that the school Administration needs to ensure that all current and new employees who are involved in any way in purchasing / procurement, should have a ‘Purchasing / Procurement 101 Training.’

Additionally, school Administration should require periodic re-trainings for all budget managers.

I would further suggest that this training be done in conjunction with the City Purchasing Department, allowing us to each gain a better understanding of the other’s policies and protocols.

The city of Warwick has listed polling places by precinct on Board of Canvassers website.