On October 29th, with early voting already underway and election day in exactly one week, the senior class officers from Toll Gate and Pilgrim posed questions to the four school committee candidates. David Testa, Karen Bachus, Zachary Colon, and Sean Wiggins are all vying for the two seats in the committee that voters will select on November 5, 2024. Toll Gate’s John Maynard and Joshua Maynard joined Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha, Alexandra Howlett, and Henry Iech in asking the questions.
The forum was live streamed on the Community of Warwick Schools Facebook Page where hundreds tuned in. Unsurprisingly, the questions revolved around the new schools and potential cuts that may result from a new report suggesting that the costs for the project have surpassed the budget.
Every candidate stated they were against additional cuts to the plans for both new high schools due to the rising budget. “I believe that what we were shown in August, a lot was cut already,” said Sean Wiggins, the President of Warwick North Little League and a father with two kids currently enrolled in Warwick schools. “I don’t think cutting any more would be good,” said Colon, a 2017 graduate of Toll Gate High School, adding, “We need new schools, and if it goes over budget, we’ll find ways to fund it, whether we go back to the General Assembly to approve another bond, or if we work with the City Council to get extra funding, there are a number of routes.” Karen Bachus and David Testa, the two incumbents in the race, concurred, with Testa convinced that the budget shortfall is overstated and that the cost of the new high schools will be manageable with the bonds already approved by the voters.
Another major topic discussed was the departure of students from Warwick Public Schools for districts like North Kingstown and Ponaganset, which have appealing pathway programs. Bachus believed that Warwick’s pathways are at the same level or better than most of the districts’ in the state, and that the exodus of students from the city has more to do with subpar sports facilities. “A lot of coaches from other school systems, specifically Ponaganset and North Kingstown, recruit our kids, and our kids go to their schools for their business programs-they’re not as good as ours. But we don’t have the sports facilities they have.” Wiggins agreed with Bachus, and emphasized increasing engagement to ensure that Warwick students stay in the city. Colon highlighted the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center and how valuable it is for students not bound for college to have opportunities to succeed in the future.
Bayha, Iech, Howlett, Maynard, and Maynard closed the forum with a “lightning round” in which they asked the candidates questions provided to them by students from both high schools through a survey. These questions revolved around mental health and support for the arts.
