WEST WARWICK –– The School Committee last night unanimously approved a settlement that would dismiss the $1.1-million lawsuit it filed against the town earlier this year.

The agreement will be voted on by the Town Council during a special meeting tomorrow night. If it is rejected, the Caruolo trial will move forward, as scheduled, on Monday.

In April, the School Committee filed suit against the town seeking an additional $1.1 million to pay its bills. The department owes $475,000 to the state teachers pension fund, and is in arrears from last year to the Warwick School Department for $436,160 in tuition payments and to its bus contractor, First Student, for $341,470.

Under the settlement, the town would agree to pay the $1,162,343 the schools owe to various creditors. The one-time payment would not be considered a loan.

The committee also approved a series of supplemental agreements to the settlement between the town and the School Department, many of which were suggested by the town during the group’s negotiating sessions earlier this month.

The School Committee and Town Council agreed to create a seven-member strategic task force to oversee the tenets of the settlement agreement and analyze information designed to avoid legal action in the future.

Negotiators worked out several points that the council still has to approve, including:

•Issue a joint resolution to the General Assembly requesting the creation of a state funding formula for education.

•Have a labor attorney analyze existing and future contracts with unions; the Town Council would pay the costs for the School Department to meet with a labor attorney within 20 days of the settlement to advise the department on how to “protect [its] managerial rights” in future years; and request to reopen negotiations within 30 days with the West Warwick Teachers’ Alliance for the current fiscal year.

•Meet as many times as necessary in joint meetings to discuss financial and economic issues; the town manager and school superintendent would attend, respectively, one School Committee and one Town Council meeting each quarter to serve as a communication tool and present updates between the two groups.

•Analyze, within 30 days, whether employing community police officers in the school district is a cost-effective way to ensure safety in schools.

tbuford@projo.com