Layoffs, furloughs eyed; mass teacher exodus

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Mayor James E. Doyle summed it up: “There isn’t going to be an individual in this city who is not going to be impacted by this budget in some way, shape or form.”

With fellow municipal leaders across the state, Doyle was digesting Gov. Donald Carcieri’s supplemental budget proposal, trying to find some shreds of optimism among the sobering financial picture.
The news for Pawtucket is not good. As previously reported, the city lost $5.4 million in funding in the last fiscal year. Doyle said the the supplemental budget plan means a loss of $4.6 million in the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30.
“The other shoe dropped,” noted Doyle, who as president of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns acknowledged that the hard-hitting proposal from the governor was not unexpected, given the state of the national and regional economy.
Doyle said the School Department budget deficit, earlier reported to be $4.1 million and climbing, has now been determined to be around $5.1 million. Included in this is a $1 million carryover from the previous year’s budget that municipal leaders were hoping to deal with. As such, Doyle said the city is looking at a combined deficit for the schools and local government of $10.7 million.
Doyle said the city currently has about $3 million in reserves that would have to be applied to this figure, lightening the burden to $7.7 million. “That’s the bottom-line figure that we have to make up right now," the mayor said. "That’s where we are for January through June 30 when we finish out this fiscal year."
Doyle admitted that he and the city’s other officials aren't sure how they'll deal with a deficit situation he described as being “rare” in its scope and size.
On the positive side, he said there are several elements of the governor’s plan that, if approved by the General Assembly, would provide fiscal relief. To that end, Doyle hopes state legislators respond quickly and positively; failure to do so, he said, will shorten the city's time frame for reducing its deficit, making a rough sled even more difficult
Doyle wouldn’t comment on the school budget, but maintained that city government is running as lean as it can. He said there is a misconception among many that there is still “fluff” in the budget, but he and the City Council have been working hard for the past few years to hold the line on expenses.
The mayor said he has asked for concessions from the city’s unions and has so far “received nothing.” His only other option is to cut city services, he said:  “We will be looking at furloughs, layoffs, reducing the work week from five days to four, doing trash collection every other week. .. all of these things are on the table."
On the schools side, Supt. Hans Dellith is predictably concerned with cuts in state aid. He pointed out that almost $300,000 had recently been approved that was going to put toward staff development, an area now facing a serious squeeze
Additionally, Dellith pointed up a provision to defer $2.2 million in payments to the teachers’ retirement system that would be offset by cuts in state aid.
Also among his chief concerns is the proposal to cut cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for any teacher who does not retire by April 1. Even if this deadline is extended to June 30, as expected, Dellith said it will cause havoc within the department. “I can see where some of the top leaders in our schools will bail out, and it will be very difficult to replace these top-level people in an environment such as this,” he stated.
 “I’m very concerned about what’s going to happen in the future," the superintendent said. "The state has made some good educational progress over the past few years, and Pawtucket has, too. We can’t afford to lose our momentum."
School Committee member James Chellel described his reaction to the governor’s budget as “just ouch.” He is particularly disturbed about the proposal to wipe out $4.3 million in schools funding that was promised from Twin River gambling proceeds.. “In less than 24 hours, our budget deficit went up another $90,000 or so, and that’s without even looking at the rest of the governor’s proposals,” Chellel said.
Fellow school board member Nicole Nordquist expressed similar dismay, saying, “It’s definitely going to be a tough year.” She's especially vexed about the proposal to eliminate COLAs.  “I hope it doesn’t cause a huge amount of retirements all at once," Nordquist said. "We could lose a lot of good teachers, and that would have a direct impact on the school system."