Warwick
UPDATE (bumped): Jim Hummel and the ProJo have now covered the Warwick sick time controversy. The ProJo reports different figures–$358,000 in total sick time bonuses–than those previously reported by the Warwick Beacon (a combined $694,000). The contract language that grants these incentives for the three separate bargaining units dates back more than two decades, according…
Most folks, including Marc, seem to agree that opposing $5 per year parking for students at a Warwick school is unreasonable but is likely to have its roots in frustration with a system that has slowly but surely been bleeding educational programs in order to bloat employee contracts. The aspect of the story that strikes…
For the price of a $5 footlong, Tollgate High students can park their car for a year in the school parking lot. Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz said he decided to institute the policy for two reasons. First, to make the campus safer and reduce auto break-ins. Students would have to register their cars and…
Flashback to June, during budget hearings held by the Warwick City Council: School Committee member Paul Cannistra has made good on his promise to file an open meetings violation complaint with Attorney General Patrick Lynch, and the AG has agreed to look into it. Cannistra was recently ejected from a City Council meeting in which…
Over the weekend I was at a neighborhood July 4th get-together. The group was a mixed one. If I had to guess, most were either a-political or run-of-the-mill Rhode Island Democrats. The topic turned to the recent closing of a local Warwick elementary school and how property taxes just got a big bump (believe me,…
United Healthcare is suing the City of Warwick, as reported by Russell Moore at the Warwick Beacon: United Healthcare of New England…claim[s the City of Warwick] violated its own ordinances in awarding a healthcare administration contract for its employees without seeking a joint bid with the school department. The suit asks the State Superior Court…
In Warwick this week, after all was said and done, the average homeowner will see an increase of $146 to their annual property tax bill. Ultimately, despite an attempt to cut more, the schools were level-funded, largely because–with 86% of the school budget locked in–the remaining 14% of cuts would directly affect the students. Think…
Last night, members of the Warwick Schools Administration and School Committee attended a public hearing in front of the City Council to discuss the 2010 budget. Blame was cast, fingers were pointed and recent contracts approved by the School Committee and City Council were compared and contrasted: Under a contract extension negotiated last year, teachers…
Paul Edward Parker‘s story in today’s Projo on the Green Airport runaway expansion and the very good accompanying map mention only the expansion to the Southwest that will force a relocation of Main Avenue (Route 113) in Warwick. Only 11 homes will be required to move, but a number of others will be close to…
One could understand, perhaps, the city/town being its own biggest employer in a rural area or suburb with little by way of industry. But Warwick? Bob Cushman writes: According to Warwick’s 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the City of Warwick was the No. 1 employer in Warwick, with 2,900 employees. Number two was Kent Hospital,…