School vote June 22 to form reserve fund

Superintendent stresses:‘This is not a budget revote’, By Linda Smith Hancharick Warwick — Dr. Frank Greenhall has heard what the residents of Warwick have been saying since he came on board in February: “The public is saying they want more input.” In response, Greenhall proposed to the school board to create a Capital Reserve Fund called the “District-wide Renovations, Reconstruction and Health and Safety Reserve Fund.” Money in this fund would only be spent on capital projects with the approval of the voters. And it would be funded by money already in an existing fund — no additional money is needed, no new taxes would be imposed for this. The fund would exist for five years. Currently, there is a Health and Safety Reserve Fund with about $3.5 million. This fund is administered by the board. If voters approve the creation of the new fund, this money would be transferred to the new reserve fund, and would only be spent with voter approval. “A Capital Reserve Fund can be used to pay for capital projects, such as roof replacement, necessary maintenance or upgrades to the fire alarm system without having to borrow money or raise school taxes,” according to a release from Greenhall. “It is not unlike a savings account that a homeowner might have to pay for maintenance and repairs around the house.” Requiring the public to approve expenditures, Greenhall said, will give the public more of a voice in district decisions. “This is what I’ve had at every district I’ve been,” said Greenhall. “I’ve been working on this since my first day here.” Every year since at least 1995, money has been moved at the end of the year and assigned to health and safety projects. The board could use these funds for emergency projects. The difference between the way it is now and what is proposed is that the board is now authorizing the expenditures. If this referendum is approved, the public would vote on all expenditures. A 45-day notification to the public would apply just as it does to any district vote. If the referendum is not approved, the funds will not stay where they are but would be moved to other areas, according to the superintendent, because projects should be authorized by the public. “Projects need to be approved by the public. If it is an emergency, the board can fix it so it is not an emergency anymore,” said Greenhall, using a roof collapse as an example. “But they would have to go back out to the public to do the permanent fix. It makes sense to let all voters decide rather than just the nine on the board.” Greenhall said it would have been ideal to have it on the ballot with the budget, which was turned down by the voters last month. However, the public must have 45 days notification before a vote. The district’s attorney was called in to answer questions from the board in April and there was not enough time to get the proposition on the May 16 ballot with proper notification. The attorney recommended that the vote occur before the end of the school year, June 30. Greenhall wants to stress that this is not a revote on the budget that was defeated. It has nothing to do with the budget at all. “The Board of Education is not reneging on its promise of only one vote on the school budget,” said Greenhall. “This referendum is an entirely different issue requiring a separate vote.” The Board will have a public hearing on this proposition on Monday, June 12, at 7 p.m. in the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center at the Middle School. The vote itself will be held on June 22 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. “The bottom line is the public is saying they want more say in what the district does,” said Greenhall. “Here it is.”