By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — By a 4 to 3 margin, the School Committee on Tuesday night defeated a motion to sue the City of Pawtucket for additional funding to help the School Department close a $5.1 million budget shortfall in the current fiscal year.

Instead, after lengthy discussion, the committee voted to request that a subcommittee of the school board meet with a subcommittee of the City Council and the state auditor general to talk about ways to remedy the troubling deficit.
The special session had been requested by four members of the School Committee to address the deficit; the audience was packed with about 40 people, many of them teachers. Committee member Amy Breault Zolt, who called the meeting, first asked School Department attorney Stephen Robinson to provide attendees with a recent history of the School Department budget
Robinson responded that to do so would require that the School Committee waive its attorney/client privilege. After several members objected, a decision was made to recess, upon which Robinson briefed the board behind closed doors.
Upon returning 10 minutes later, Breault Zolt immediately said that with “deep sadness and regret” she wanted to make a motion that the School Committee file suit against the city to obtain sufficient funds to run the School Department. Committee member Nicole Nordquist seconded the motion.
Committee member Joanne Bonollo commented that, given the existing deficit, and the recent supplemental budget proposed by Gov. Donald Carcieri, she felt the School Committee had no choice but “to go Caruolo.”
She voiced criticism of Carcieri’s plan, particularly in regard to a deferment of school employees’ pension funding, saying the governor is trying to fix the state’s budget woes by “piggybacking” on the local budgets and “the backs of our kids.”
Nordquist said that while she had voted against a previous request for a Caruolo action, in 2006, she has since altered her view. She noted that the city had come up with a settlement plan following that vote. While the school board was able to avoid a Caruolo action during the past two years, Nordquist said she has also been disheartened by what she experienced in past meetings with the state auditor general. “I thought there would be more support for education,” she added.
Nordquist added that, because she doesn’t think the city has the money this year to offer any kind of settlement, the lawsuit is the only avenue available.
During the lengthy discussion, Nordquist mentioned that Mayor James Doyle had sent school board members a communication suggesting that one to two schools be closed as a money-saving move. However, during discussion with Schools Business Manager Thomas Conlon and Schools Supt. Hans Dellith, it was noted that school closings are not a realistic option in the middle of the academic year and that any such action would not help with the current year’s deficit.
When put to a vote, Breault Zolt’s motion failed 4 to 3, with James Chellel, Joseph Knight, Raymond Noonan and David Coughlin opposed. Explaining his opposition, Noonan emphatically stated, “There is absolutely no way I will sue the citizens who elected me.” Coughlin, the board chairman, said he was voting no as well “for the same reasons stated by Mr. Noonan.”
Following the vote, Knight asked for a detailed count of students in each classroom and in every class at all of the city’s schools. He also suggested that a study committee be formed to look into ways of consolidating some School Department functions.
During discussion, Zolt, Bonollo and Nordquist spoke of the many cuts in staffing and programs that the city’s school children had already endured in the last four or five years. Nordquist asked if anyone on the committee had any other ideas on where to find $5.1 million in savings, saying that to just go forward with this deficit is “irresponsible.”
Her remarks drew the ire of Noonan, who challenged Nordquist to name the budget cuts she has called for during her four-year School Committee tenure.
Nordquist responded with several examples, involving academic classes at the Jacqueline Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, closing the position of information technology director and withdrawing a request for all-day kindergarten.
Chellel defended Nordquist, saying she had come up with several cost-cutting initiatives during her board service. He also said he would not be against revisiting a Caruolo action, but said he first wanted to have a joint meeting with City Council members to talk about the deficit in greater detail.
In addition to requesting the formation of subcommittees from both the School Committee and City Council, Chellel’s motion was amended to include the state auditor general in the joint budget discussions.