NEA’s Walsh Blasts East Greenwich Council Shake-Up, Corrigan Interim Manager
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Bob Walsh, the Executive Director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, took to Twitter Monday to condemn the ouster of East Greenwich Town Manager Thomas Coyle III, who is being replaced by Interim Manager Gayle Corrigan.
"There was a coup in East Greenwich this morning, with those wishing to destroy the schools now in firm control," Tweeted Walsh.
The Town Council recently hired Corrigan's firm Providence Analytics to undertake a portion of the school department's administrative functions. Corrigan has worked closely with former Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Bob Flanders, including on the Central Falls receivership.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMeanwhile, East Greenwich Town Council President Sue Cienki is on the host committee for a fundraiser for Flanders, who is eyeing a run for U.S. Senate, this coming Saturday, June 24 (as first reported in RI Future).
Walsh Raises Concerns
"I heard about [Coyle] being out this morning. I knew that his job was in trouble, but I surprised," said Walsh. "A special meeting on a Monday morning?"
Walsh said that he has been watching the East Greenwich Town Council closely in light of recent actions.
"They level funded the schools, with Corrigan saying her firm would do administrative functions," said Walsh. "The Chair stopped taking testimony and approved the budget -- and now the school committee has to figure out how to implement some of the cuts. This is after it took us a year to get the contract."
"I'm really surprised by the whole thing -- our best performing communities are Barrington and East Greenwich," said Walsh. "And East Greenwich has not been as generous in funding, whereas the Barrington parents usually step up."
Walsh noted that he contested the characterization of the town's finances as presented by Corrigan.
"[Corrigan] was using terms like 'fiscal crisis'," said Walsh. "When a community like East Greenwich hears Corrigan using language like they used in Central Falls, if I'm a real estate agent in town, I'm freaking out. I know in the wealthier communities we rely on property taxes, but that's common across the state. East Greenwich is not Central Falls."
School Committee Chair on Record
Carolyn Mark, Chair of the East Greenwich School Committee, weighed in on the situation on Monday.
"There is a tremendous amount of upheaval going on in EG right now. On the school side, we are facing level funding in a time when our student population is growing, class sizes are at an all time high, our high cost special needs have increased dramatically, and the cost of our kindergarten program doubled in a year with the implementation of state-mandated all day kindergarten," said Mark. "Given all of this, I was deeply disappointed in the Town Council's decision to cut taxes when even just keeping the tax rate level would have provided the schools with the resources necessary to avoid significant cuts to staff and programs."
"On the eve of the Town Council's budget vote, the school committee sent a memo detailing the impact on the schools if the budget proposed by Providence Analytics was to move forward. But, unfortunately, the Town Council chose to prioritize a modest tax cut over providing adequate funding to the schools," said Mark. "On Tuesday, the EG School Committee will be finalizing our budget. We will be looking at the recommendations made by Providence Analytics and making our own decisions about how we believe our limited education dollars would best be spent."
Related Slideshow: FY18 House Finance Budget
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