Resident Questions School Stabilization Fund

The implementation of a capital stabilization fund for the Seekonk School Department was faulty, according to Doreen Taylor, a former selectwoman. “Though the warrant was legal, it was not complete,” Taylor said at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. “It’s wrong to move forward without the inclusion of town meeting.”

According to Taylor, Superintendent Rich Drolet said $452, 466 was spent on capital items during the FY’21-22 budget cycle. Taylor was critical of the way the school department prioritized capital needs. “If we hadn’t invested $13 million into rebuilding the Aitken (Elementary) school, we would have had $8 million to fix the boiler system at Hurley Middle School. It’s been out there forever and no one has paid attention to it until it’s about ready to explode.” Drolet declined to comment for this story.

Town Administrator Shawn Cadime said the school committee has the authority to decide how their money is spent. “There’s no policy in place to circumvent that,” Cadime noted. “They don’t need to present a balanced budget so it’s incumbent on me to make the tough cuts. They can put in all their wants and requests so I’ve got to go back and say no, we can’t afford this.”

Selectmen chairman Justin Sullivan said the school department has been “consistently” returning a surplus of money to the town for the last several years.

Taylor believes the school department has not been transparent enough in their intentions. “There’s never a guarantee on that side of the fence ever. There’s always a profession of working together. It’s always town services that get punished in the long run,” Taylor added. “We have not enough firemen. We struggle to keep a full roster of police officers and how can we accomplish and keep the town completely safe?”