By JOSEPH B. NADEAU

PROVIDENCE — Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini opened an expedited review of the School Department’s Caruolo Act suit against the city Thursday, requesting a performance audit of the department’s spending and scheduling dates for case filings and hearings.

The brief afternoon hearing in Procaccini’s third floor courtroom was attended by City Solicitor Robert C. Iuliano, School Department legal counsel Richard R. Ackerman and School Superintendent Robert J. Gerardi Jr.
The school department filed the suit to cover a $3.7 million deficit in its current $65 million budget ending June 30.
Procaccini noted the school department’s Caruolo Act suit alleges the city “inadequately funded” the school department for the current budget year and as a result he was required by the Caruolo legislation to request the performance audit.
 The law also requires the court to hold an expedited hearing of the suit and Procaccini said he would clear his court calendar during the week of July 20 for trial of the matter on a day to day basis as needed.
 The judge said as part of the expedited review he will require the parties to file orders of discovery by June 4 and the completed audit with the court by July 1.
 The city will select the auditing company through competitive bidding and the school department will fund the cost through its budget as required by Caruolo, Procaccini said. The audit could cost the school department between $50,000 to $100,000, the parties noted.
 The attorneys will provide updates on the status of the case during the third week of June, Procaccini said before concluding the session.
 The schedule set for the court review could have an impact on preparation of the school department’s budget for next year already under way.
 Gerardi has described the department’s funding problems as a “structural deficit” resulting from insufficient local support over a number of years. The state’s move to cut its funding for local districts in the past two years highlighted the local funding constraints and contributed to the shortfall in the current budget.
 A move to fund the deficit through a supplemental tax increase prior to the end of the fiscal year, as had been considered by the City Council several weeks ago, would have addressed the structural deficit problem without the need for a Caruolo suit.
 But with the council voting that option down 4 to 3, the budget deficit could now contribute to an even greater shortfall in the coming year.
 Iuliano suggested Thursday that even with the expedited court review, the school department’s Caruolo case is not likely to be resolved by the end of the fiscal year.
Under that scenario, the city would in turn move to cover the shortage under a deficit reduction plan spread over a period of several years as was done with the city’s shortfall resulting from reduced state revenue sharing.
The problem, he said is not unique to Woonsocket and one that will not be answered on a local basis. “There are so many cities and towns in financial trouble it has to be a state answer,” he said.
Ackerman and Gerardi said the school department welcomes the court ordered financial audit given the work they have already done to define the department’s financial shortfall.
The fact that the city council and the mayor have been working with the department to cover its shortfall through the supplemental tax bill supports the department’s arguments that more local funding is need, according the school officials.
“No one has indicated we misappropriated our funding,” Ackerman said. “We don’t fear a performance audit, we just don’t like spending the money for it,” he added.