Smithfield Town Council OKs $150K Extra for Schools, Pending Performance Evaluation

Supt. Robert O'Brien walked into last night's Budget Hearing at Smithfield High School hoping for $300,000 added to the School Department's budget, but he got half — with a condition.

Town Manager Dennis Finlay's $32,844,732 school budget appropriation had already added $300,000 in response to O'Brien's request to add $1.1 million to the budget, but the superintendent and School Committee Chairman Richard Iannitelli had hoped to convince the Council to add at least another $300,000 that they said would save 18 teaching jobs and add a full-time technology teacher and a half-time music teacher.

But after about 20 minutes of deliberation, the Council denied the request for $300,000, then approved adding $150,000 to the budget, but contingent on a performance review the Council voted to commission during their last meeting.

After the vote, O'Brien expressed frustration with the uncertainty of the funding.

"I don't know what I am going to do in relation to asking back the people," O'Brien said. He said it will be very difficult to figure out how to plan around funding that might or might not come through. He said he didn't know when the performance review will be finished.

"He controls his budget. He should be able to figure out how to do it," said Councilman Bernard A. Hawkins. He said the performance review, which went out to bid this week, ought to be done by August or September.

If the review supports the School Department's need for the funding, he said, they'll release the funds. If the review reveals the department could rearrange its budget to effect the same results, "Then we'll deal with it that way," Hawkins said. 

The Council also approved:

• Adding $78,000 to the fire department budget to hire two new EMTs, partially paid for using $28,000 from the department's ambulance service.
• Adding $15,000 each to the East Smithfield and Greenville Libraries. They had requested $24,039 and $23,543 respectively.