EXCLUSIVE: Felon Serving on Central Falls School Board

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Stephen Beale, GoLocalProv News Editor

A member of the Board of Trustees for the Central Fall School District has a criminal record that includes charges of selling drugs and shoplifting, according to state court records obtained by GoLocalProv.

Leslie Estrada was charged with manufacturing and delivering drugs in December 1995. That felony charge was dismissed in May 1996. But later that month, Estrada was arraigned on an amended charge—one felony count of conspiracy to sell drugs. She pleaded no contest in 1997 and was sentenced to ten years of probation, one hundred hours of community service, and a drug treatment program.

A decade later, Leslie Estrada was appointed a trustee for the Central Falls School District by the state Board of Regents. Two separate sources inside the school district confirmed Estrada’s criminal background. One source said it is a fact that is well known among school district faculty and staff but never became public during the controversy over the firing of all high school teachers last year—something which Estrada supported.

“The issue that I have is the woman with a felony record is voting against me to keep my job,” said one Central Falls High School teacher. “She’s a petty criminal. It’s amazing that this woman was allowed to make decisions that ruined people’s lives.”

Court records show that Estrada also has three misdemeanor charges on her record—driving with a suspended license in 1997 and 2000 and shoplifting in 1997. All three charges were dismissed.

Flanders: Did not know about drug charge before appointment

Bob Flanders—who was appointed to the Board of Regents just months before the November 2007 vote on Estrada—said he was “completely unaware” of her criminal background.

“It's relevant because you want to have people who are good people to serve on that board and if someone has a criminal background, particularly with respect to drugs, we would want to know about that,” said Flanders, a former state Supreme Court justice who now serves as the state-appointed receiver for the city of Central Falls. “I wouldn’t say it’s an automatic disqualification but it’s a strong negative that would need to be clarified before we could even consider such a candidate.”

The head of one of the state teacher unions was surprised to learn yesterday that a criminal background check apparently had not been done on Estrada before she was appointed.

“In Cranston, where I came from, you couldn’t even go on a field trip with your child as a chaperone without submitting to a BCI,” said Frank Flynn, President of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. “I’m kind of surprised the Board of Regents would nominate this person to serve on the board of directors for Central Falls without properly vetting her.”

Last year, one mother who wanted to volunteer at her daughter’s elementary school in Cranston filed a lawsuit through the ACLU after the district said that she couldn’t be a volunteer because she had been convicted on two felony counts of heroin possession about six years earlier.

Felony conviction normally a barrier to teaching

Sources in Central Falls school say it’s unfair that Estrada is serving on the Board of Trustees with a felony on her record while a similar background would bar most teachers from working in the district.

Applicants for teacher certification in Rhode Island have to disclose if they have a criminal background. A felony charge could be—but would not automatically be—a barrier to certification. But an individual school district still has the right to not hire a certified teacher because of his or her criminal past.

In Central Falls, school district policy mandates criminal background checks for all prospective employees. The check is limited to whether there were any convictions. If there were any, the superintendent has to make a “judgment regarding the suitability of the person seeking employment.” Those who fall under the policy include teachers as well as independent contractors, volunteers, and anyone else who provides a good or service that could bring them into contact with students.

Flynn said such policies exist in other districts and similar restrictions on volunteers are becoming more commonplace. He said the same standard should be applied to appointed school board members like Estrada. “These policies are in place to protect students and they should be applied consistently,” he said.

However, the chair of the Board of Trustees for Central Falls schools disagreed that there is a double standard. “We’re not in the classroom. We do not have individual relationships with teachers … or administrators,” said Anna Cano Morales. “That is what we hire the superintendent to do.” (Morales also is a former member of the Board of Regents.)

Gist: Criminal conviction not always an obstacle to volunteering

State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist—who was not in office when Estrada was appointed—defended the process used to appoint her.

“We are not familiar with the details regarding allegations against Ms. Estrada. In general, however, a conviction followed by a clean record of more than 10 years should not necessarily bar someone from voluntary public service to the community,” Gist said. “We are confident that, at present, we have in place a vetting process to effectively screen candidates for appointments by the Board of Regents.”

Morales said she hopes that the public would not hold a youthful mistake against Estrada. “It’s something that’s unfortunate,” Morales said. “Everyone makes mistakes when they’re 20.”

“I think there are a lot more important things we need to talk about in Central Falls,” Morales added.

The news comes as tensions remain at Central Falls one year after teachers were fired and then rehired. At the end of 2010, those tensions neared a breaking point when news reports surfaced that a high absentee rate among teachers was threatening efforts to turn around the struggling school. Meanwhile, teachers said they lacked confidence in how school leaders were implementing the transformation plan for Central Falls High School, which has some of the worst graduation and class fail rates in the state.

New board of trustees created in ‘02

A 2002 state law established a Board of Trustees to run Central Falls schools, which are funded by the state and federal government. The seven-member board includes three at large members and four members who must be residents with children in the district. Members are appointed by the Board of Regents.

Trustees must meet at least once a month and are not compensated for their service.

Superintendent Frances Gallo referred all comments to the Board of Regents yesterday. The new chairman of the board, George Caruolo, did not respond to a request for comment—nor did Leslie Estrada.

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