The Town of Warren has made a settlement offer to Bristol, after a judge ruled earlier this month that the Bristol Warren Regional School District wrongly apportioned millions in state education aid last year. All told, Warren taxpayers ended up paying $2.05 million more than they should have, the judge ruled, while Bristol taxpayers conversely paid $2.05 million less than they should have.

Warren Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto said he offered the settlement offer on behalf of the town during a meeting of attorneys held last Monday, April 20. Citing confidentiality laws, he declined to talk specifics of the settlement, but said attorneys will hopefully meet later this week to discuss the matter.

In his opinion, Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Luis Matos ruled that school district officials erred when they divvied up state education aid to both towns based on the number of pupils in the entire district, instead of accounting for the differing amounts of aid granted to Warren vs. Bristol students, by the state.

Under the state’s education funding formula, students in every town are given education aid based on a host of variables, including socioeconomic and financial factors. While Warren received more per pupil than Bristol, the school department’s decision to add both towns’ aid award, then divide that by the total number of students in the district, effectively gave Warren a lower state aid credit than it was due. As a result, the judge concluded that Warren taxpayers were billed more for local aid than they should have been.

“The money should follow the student,” Mr. DeSisto said after the ruling came down.

With negotiations ongoing between the towns and school district, it is still unknown how, and from where, Warren would be reimbursed for the overage. It is also unclear whether the town will seek reimbursement as far back as 2010, when the aid education formula in question went into effect.

Legislation filed

However, one lawmaker wants things left status quo.

One week to the day after Judge Matos’s decision, Bristol Rep. Raymond Gallison submitted a bill that, if passed, would continue the practice used by the district: To take total state aid to both towns, combine them and then divide by the number of students in the district to determine how much each receives.

Rep. Gallison’s House bill 6106 would require that state aid be distributed to the school district “as one entity, and not as appropriations to individual municipalities.”

It was co-sponsored by Teresa Tanzi of South Kingstown.

Rep. Gallison could not be reached for comment. But Warren Rep. Jan Malik, who discovered the error and pushed for the Town of Warren to file suit last year, said he was surprised to see the bill submitted:

“If there’s a hearing, I’ll fight it,” he said.

“I respect Ray and I understand he’s trying to represent his district. But I just don’t think it’s right, personally. The judge came down with this ruling, and I think it’s fair to both communities this way.”