School Department Misses March 1 Budget Deadline.
Editor's note: The following is an open letter to RI Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly: Dear Ms. Gallogly, I am writing to you as a very concerned Woonsocket taxpayer. It has been brought to my attention that the Woonsocket School Department will not be submitting their budget on time. It was due on March 1, 2013. School Superintendent Donoyan stated at the last school committee meeting that she was given an extension to April 1st. (who approved this extension??). Ms.Gallogly, as you well know a State Budget Commission has been assigned to my city because of our serious financial problems. In 2011 the School Department along with the School Committee pushed us over the financial cliff with a surprise $2 million deficit. Here…
Superintendent considers closing Fifth Avenue School, converting Bernon Heights to a middle school.
Parents are questioning the wisdom of a proposal to close Fifth Avenue Elementary and convert Bernon Heights to a middle school for fifth and sixth-graders. The changes are a possible part of Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan's new budget plan for the Woosocket Education Department. The Valley Breeze reports parents and teachers are organizing to oppose the proposed changes. City Council President John Ward said it makes sense to draw up additional budget options. During the April 17 City Council meeting, Ward noted his own children, who are now grown, attended Bernon Heights, and he sympathizes with the community's desire to maintain the schools as neighborhood schools. Given the opposition to the proposals, he said, it makes sense for …
41.99451
-71.503729
Bernon Heights Elementary
657 Logee St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/parents-question-proposed-fifth-avenue-bernon-heights-changes
1718834
/locations/6876108
41.99946
-71.52898
Fifth Avenue Elementary
65 5th Ave, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/parents-question-proposed-fifth-avenue-bernon-heights-changes
1718831
/locations/6876109
42.00287
-71.51371
Woonsocket City Hall
169 Main St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/parents-question-proposed-fifth-avenue-bernon-heights-changes
505492
/locations/6876110
42.00346
-71.51508
City of Woonsocket Department of Education
108 High St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/parents-question-proposed-fifth-avenue-bernon-heights-changes
505279
/locations/6876111
Memere
2:07 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
Mike, The Budget Commission has stated that the City has been grossly underfunding the School Department for years. How can the School Department keep their budget in the black when they are not given enough money to work with from the beginning? The School Department cannot generate money on its own and must follow Federal and State mandates. That must be difficult to do when you are not given … more ›