PROVIDENCE – The Providence Public School District board made clear Wednesday night that the city’s schools should be brought back under local control. However, the R.I. Council on Elementary and Secondary Education in a week’s time will have the last word on that.
The PPSD board voted unanimously to recommend the R.I. Department of Education to end the state intervention of the district at the completion of the 2024-25 academic year. Board member Anjel Newmann said the school board’s obligation is to “always vote in favor” of what the community wants, the community wants “a voice,” and felt RIDE officials ignored the school community about what is happening with the intervention of PPSD.
“This is not about vilification; this is about keeping it real,” Newmann said. “If the commissioner [Angelica Infante-Green] showed up to meetings every month and was accountable to us in the community, I might be voting differently. [But] I cannot in good faith vote in that way because I don’t see the collaboration from the top. I don’t see the transparency or the trust. All I’ve seen are students, families, teachers and principals be ignored, including board members.”
But RIDE spokesperson Victor Morente told Providence Business News on Thursday that the board’s vote is nonbinding. That means Infante-Green can either accept the PPSD board’s recommendation when she meets with the R.I. Council on Elementary and Secondary Education on Aug. 29 and give the control back to the city or not.
Mayor Brett P. Smiley in a statement to PBN on Thursday agreed with the PPSD board’s vote asserting that the schools should be returned to local control. But he believes it should begin after a year of transition and after the city established “a clear plan for a return to municipal control.”
“Our administration has been preparing for an efficient and responsible return and is currently engaging with our residents, teachers, students and other stakeholders to ensure that our plan is guided by a community-driven framework that will improve education outcomes and advance turnaround action plan metrics,” Smiley said.
Wednesday’s vote also came a few days after RIDE made public Massachusetts-based SchoolWorks LLC’s review report assessing how much PPSD has improved during the state’s intervention over the last five-plus years and what, if any, holes remain. This report will also be presented at the council’s Aug. 29 meeting as well.
RIDE
assumed control over PPSD in late 2019 after
a scathing report from Johns Hopkins University on the district’s various failings at the time. Infante-Green
formally announced back in May that SchoolWorks would conduct the $120,600 review of the district to see if PPSD is ready to return to local governance.
Infante-Green told Providence Business News at the time that there have been strides and progress made within the district over the last five years and hoped SchoolWorks gives a “fair review” of this work.
SchoolWorks in
its review offered mixed results on the takeover. The report said PPSD has made “notable progress” in giving students needed learning materials to succeed in math and English language arts, increasing the number of teachers of color in the candidate pool and improved across the district in filling hard-to-fill positions. The school board has also improved some operational functions and have “participated in presentations” tracking the district’s progress toward PPSD’s turnaround action plan goals, the report states.
However, SchoolWorks’ report notes PPSD “has not yet” set clear expectations for instruction. Stakeholders, the report says also “consistently shared concern” about PPSD’s fiscal health, the impact of recent layoffs and uncertain futures for support positions on PPSD’s improvement efforts.
The report also stated the city on its own is assessing the situation on a possible return of the schools to local control, including Mayor Brett P. Smiley last November initiated a “Return to Local Control Cabinet” to do this review. But the city, per the report, acknowledges more work is needed to resume local control, including increased transparency in fiscal reporting from the district and if the school board is ready to take control back.
Student performance within PPSD didn’t get a passing grade from SchoolWorks either. The report found only 21% of students met or exceeded expectations in third-grade math and only 19% met or exceeded expectations in third-grade ELA.
It was worse for eighth and 11th graders, where just 6% and 15% of eighth graders met or exceeded math or ELA scores, respectively, the report states. Plus, just 13% of 11th graders met or exceeded math expectations and less than 30% of 11th graders met or exceeded ELA expectations on the SAT.
Those figures raised red flags with the Rhode Island Businesses for Better Education, an alliance of business associations and local Chambers of commerce seeking strong educational outcomes across the state
that formed last November. RIBBE said in a statement Aug. 20 that business leaders are concerned about the pace of progress with PPSD and RIDE’s turnaround and warn that the state “cannot compete” with other states and regions “if the state’s largest school district continues to lag.”
“Businesses and employers rely on strong public school districts to help prepare students for the workforce and attract potential employees to Rhode Island,” the group said. “RIBBE urges the Gov. Daniel J. McKee administration, the R.I. General Assembly, and the city of Providence to commit to promoting greater accountability in the takeover and demonstrate greater urgency around delivering real improvement. In the weeks to come, RIBBE looks forward to working with stakeholders and finding a path forward to ensure the best possible outcomes for all students of Providence.”
(UPDATE: Adds 4th and 5th paragraphs to include statement from Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
