EAST PROVIDENCE — Superintendent Kathryn Crowley and her administrative team presented the School Committee with mostly positive spin during a special session conducted on Tuesday night, July 24, at Martin Middle School, a public workshop held specifically to discuss for the first time this budgetary season her proposed outline for the upcoming 2018-19 fiscal year.

The forum dealt only with personnel, the superintendent telling the committee approximately 98 percent of jobs within the district are filled about a month before the ’18-19 term begins.

One of the few remaining openings came recently with the announcement Teresa Medeiros was leaving her post as principal at the Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School for a similar job in Connecticut. Superintendent Crowley said she was planning to conduct interviews next week with prospective candidates for the vacancy with the intent of presenting the committee with a recommendation at its August 14 meeting.

There are also two vacancies of note at East Providence High School. One is for an existing position of an assistant principal to replace Greg McCarthy, who is transferring to the same position at the Myron J. Francis Elementary School. The other is a new role, that of an in-school suspension supervisor requested by EPHS Principal Shani Wallace and backed by Ward 3 Committeeman Nate Cahoon. The superintendent said she also expects to interview for those jobs and present suitable candidates to the committee at the same August 14 meeting.

According to Superintendent Crowley and District Finance Director Craig Enos, the total expenditure for personnel in FY2018-19 is expected to be $49,413,775 up from $46,350,542 from last term. Much of that increase comes from contract negotiations completed between the district and the unions of its employees completed a year ago.

However, when grant monies for numerous positions are taken into account, the actual increase from the district’s coffers is $1.7 million. Also, the contracts for a few building administrators have yet to be finalized. And when considered in total, between jobs eliminated and added, the superintendent said the district-wide staff will have only 1-and-1/3 more positions this upcoming term compared to last.

Of note as well, Superintendent Crowley said because the district has more accurately compiled the number of children enrolled in the school lunch program, state aid is expected to increase year-over-year by some $190,000 to about $35.7 million.

Last fiscal year the city contributed $45.6 million in funding to the district bringing the total outlay for schools to $82.5 million. State level funding requirements mean it must at least match that figure this year. Asked by Mr. Cahoon and Ward 2 Committeeman Tony Ferreira if the district could handle being level funded in FY18-19, Superintendent Crowley said, “yes,” the district could cover personnel and anticipated operating costs.

But those aforementioned operating costs have yet to be finalized, the superintendent stressed both during the meeting and after the gathering. She immediately huddled with Mr. Enos to begin crunching those numbers, expecting them to be ready for discussion at the next public workshop set to take place Tuesday night, July 31, at 7:30 in City Hall.

“Craig has done a wonderful job. He’s working very hard on this budget to be as accurate as possible,” the Superintendent Crowley said of Mr. Enos, who is overseeing his first budget since coming on to replace Lucy Maddock as the district’s finance director earlier last term.

Next Tuesday evening's workshop takes place after a special session of the School Committee and its Building Sub-Committee, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Talk at the joint session will center around the proposed construction of a new East Providence High School, funding for which will appear in two separate initiatives from both the city and the state on the November election ballot.