PROVIDENCE (AP) – An elementary school principal in the city has been named interim superintendent of the embattled Providence public school district, Gov. Daniel J. McKee and state Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced Tuesday.
Javier Montanez, principal of the Leviton Dual Language School, replaces Harrison Peters, who resigned under pressure last month after coming under fire for hiring Olayinka Alege, a school administrator charged with the misdemeanor simple assault for allegedly fondling a teenage boy’s foot at a Warwick gym in April.
Peters hired Alege even though he had faced similar accusations when he worked at a Florida school district. He was not criminally charged in Florida.
The state took control of the city’s schools in November 2019 after an independent review described it was one of the nation’s worst districts. The district is also currently in tense contract negotiations with the teachers’ union.