Issue
Budget, costs, and Providence
Children come first. Costs come in check. Every dollar accounted for.
In February 2026, Warwick voters rejected a $50 million supplemental bond, part of it to finish the athletic facilities at the new high schools and the rest for city recreation projects. That was not a vote against schools so much as a vote against more debt without a clearer plan for the district that exists today. The right starting point for the next term is a set of honest questions, not a list of pre-cooked answers. Where is the structural deficit coming from, and how much of it is health-care cost growth that has been allowed to drift for years? What is the operating plan that justifies asking voters for anything more? And what is this committee willing to ask of the Rhode Island Department of Education when state mandates drive Warwick costs up without commensurate state funding? Children come first, and every dollar already inside the FY27 budget should be expected to reach a classroom, a teacher, or a building before we add to it.
What I’ll push for
- Public, plain-language reporting on the new high schools project that explains what it cost, what it covers, and what it does not.
- A willingness to ask harder questions of the Rhode Island Department of Education when state mandates drive Warwick costs up without commensurate state funding. A heavy hand from Providence deserves a serious response from Warwick.
- Quarterly performance reporting on the largest contracts, rather than a single annual line item buried in a budget document.
“Children come first. Every dollar already in the budget should reach a classroom, a teacher, or a building. That is the standard, not the slogan.”