A call for a budget audit

To the editor: Now that we are all back from our summer vacations and before we become involved in the holiday rush, perhaps now is as good a time as any to ask some probing and difficult questions regarding the recent school budget vote debacle. One glaring question in my mind is why does the Warwick School District own and maintain its own buses? When I lived on Long Island most, if not all, of the school districts leased their buses. I can only imagine this was done because it was less expensive than owning them. When one considers the purchase price, maintenance, fuel, insurance, salaries and upkeep of the bus garage facility in addition to other costs that I can't even imagine, perhaps leasing would save the tax payers money. Has a study ever been done to determine the possible cost effectiveness of leasing and if not, why not? Another question that comes to mind is why is money allocated for public relations in the budget? Are we trying to lure students from other districts? Or are such funds used to try and make us all feel good about the large sums of money we're already spending on education? Lastly, I feel that it's time that an independent audit was done of the Warwick School District so that we can see exactly where this money is being spent. The taxpayers of this district have a right to know, especially after the cuts that were made to the kindergarten program and other educational programs; an audit might bring to light ways of cutting "pork" from the budget so that we can continue to provide a quality education to the children of this town while not beggaring the taxpayers. Sincerely, Charlene E. Anderson Warwick