![[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] At right, Acting Superintendent William McCaffrey addresses City Councilman Bill Muto.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Warwick-Schools-FY26-Budget-1.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
WARWICK, RI — Warwick College officers reviewed current progress righting their FY26 finances at a special City Council meeting Wednesday, reiterating the necessity for $144,994,755 at school funds requested of their finances, a part of the deficit discount plan submitted to the State Auditor Normal.
‘It’s time to place the town first and help the colleges. I’ve been on this district for 3 many years. It’s time to step as much as the plate, have delight.’ — Performing Superintendent William McCaffrey
When Metropolis Councilman Invoice Muto requested how the district may guarantee it wouldn’t endure additional deficits, Acting Superintendent William McCaffrey replied that delivering the total city-contributed $144,994,757 funding the varsity district requested, a 2.2 % enhance in metropolis funding [not the overall 2.2 percent increase including city and state aid the city proposes] to the colleges, would do the trick. That will be step one, he mentioned, steering the district out of deficit spending in FY29. Mayor Picozzi’s proposed finances offers $141,809,606.
“I’m not attempting to threaten anybody. It’s a actuality. It’s a math equation,” McCaffrey mentioned.
After the assembly, Sherri Kuntze, a member of the Warwick Schools Budget Commission attending the assembly, demurred when requested to weigh in on that assertion.
“I don’t know that I could make an evaluation on that proper now,” she mentioned.
With $49.8M in state help, the request would end in a $198,162,060 FY26 finances, which is $3,719,153 in need of the sum whole Picozzi’s $380M draft finances offers. That finances already will increase the property tax levy by 3.91 %, barely beneath the state cap of 4 %, leaving little room for extra income to work with.
McCaffrey: College funds help the entire Metropolis
McCaffrey argued the town and colleges’ successes are linked, that the districts’ challenges have to be decisively addressed for the town’s sake as an entire. Town of Warwick consists of Warwick Colleges, he mentioned.
“It’s time to place the town first and help the colleges,” McCaffrey mentioned, “I’ve been on this district for 3 many years. It’s time to step as much as the plate, have delight.”
After the assembly, Councilman Jeremy Rix wouldn’t guess on the probability of Warwick Colleges help rising to match the request.
“It’s an extremely ugly yr for the finances,” Rix mentioned. He famous the town has its personal deficit of about $3 million to treatment.
“So I need to know the place the Metropolis of Warwick Price range Fee is,” mentioned Darlene Netcoh, Warwick Lecturers Union president and longtime instructor.
“That is what a collection of a extraordinarily short-sighted selections have led us to over current years and over the course of many years,” Rix mentioned.
In McCaffrey’s presentation to the Council, he reviewed a number of slides displaying the district’s challenges and steps taken to deal with the issues.
Price drivers embrace outdoors influences past quick native management, together with inflation, contractual will increase and state mandates. New organizational controls embrace a brand new monetary controller, a devoted grants controller and a brand new govt director of finance. Cuts embrace the Warwick Lecturers Union contractual most lower of 20 instructing positions, in addition to 25 positions lower from Warwick Impartial College Workers Union ranks. Images of these slides have been included beneath, as have copies of the proposed common metropolis finances and faculty district budgets.
Warwick Metropolis Council budget hearings are scheduled to begin Monday, May 18, at 4 p.m., Council Chambers, Warwick Metropolis Corridor, 3275 Put up Highway, Warwick, RI.
FY2026 WPS Proposed Budget – 5.7.25 General Fund Final FY26 budget
