It’s taking a little longer than I expected to find out the consequences of closing one of the new elementary schools. Town Treasurer Phil DiMattia has contacted Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, which holds the bonds, and the organization’s president has had to run the gauntlet of his legal department before putting anything in writing.
The reason the legal research is necessary is because, apparently, it’s a very unusual request. So unusual that, according to the president, the only person to contact RIHEBC prior to the town treasurer was some guy named Justin Katz. Which means that the School Committee is threatening to close a school without knowing all of the consequences.
Once I know all of the consequences, I’ll certainly report back to you all, hopefully with a PDF of the official document. For now, I can say this much:
- The Department of Education would have to approve the move. (I’ve emailed Commissioner Deborah Gist to find out her position.)
- The town would still be responsible for paying the bond, as well as maintaining the property, but RIHEBC would cease its 30% financial give-back to the town for that school.
- If the building shifts to some other usage — whether it’s sold, given away, or used by the town — RIHEBC would call the bond, which means that the town would have to pay the entire debt off immediately.
- Even if the called bond somehow did not bankrupt the town, the fact that it happened would cause severe damage to our credit rating.
In other words, the consequences are so complex and severe that it isn’t realistic for the School Committee to consider closing an elementary school. And how serious could they be if they haven’t even called the organization that holds the bond? Many parents of Tiverton’s school children are under the impression that closing a school — particularly Fort Barton, for some reason — is a certainty if the school department doesn’t get its 4.6% increase in local funding. You’d think that Superintendent Bill Rearick and co. would want to have a written document explaining the procedure, costs, and consequences of that move before causing so much anxiety.
Of course, as far as I know, the voters at the financial town meeting could make a motion specifying that, if the school department chooses to close a school, then it should be responsible for making the principal and interest payments, and not the municipal government. We haven’t yet voted on the town’s debt service, and since it’s not possible to amend the amount of those numbers, perhaps we could amend them to impose that rule.
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