Woonsocket fires school finance manager

Woonsocket’s school committee has decided not to seek a state police investigation into allegations that top school officials misled the committee about its financial situation. However, the board voted yesterday to fire its Finance Director Stacey Busby.

Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan recommended the termination, saying she could not understand how the district finished the last fiscal year with a $2.7 million deficit rather than a slight surplus as Busby had projected. Busby has been on administrative leave while a team of city, school and state officials work to unscramble Woonsocket’s books.

The school district is facing a combined $10 million deficit between last year’s cost over-runs and this year’s budget. Woonsocket residents may have to pay a supplemental city tax to help keep the schools open.