EDITORIAL: Providence Public Schools Administration’s Handling of Violence Raises More Questions

Friday, December 02, 2022

EDITORIAL

 

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Dr. Javier Montañez PHOTO: PPS

The administration of Providence Public Schools is under fire by nearly every constituency. 

This week's violence and the administration's attempt to mislead parents, community leaders, and the media about the severity of the beating and stabbing at Central High School only goes to further undermine trust.

Earlier this week, organizer Gabe Mernoff, a representative for a group of families, students, legislators, community organizations, and individuals, issued a blistering analysis of the leadership of Providence Public Schools.

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"The community has received numerous complaints from employees within the school department. The first being reports of violation of Federal Laws pertaining to student grading policies. Since then, complaints of retaliation, discrimination, racism, low morale, and intimidation tactics to name a few, are at an all-time high. The Providence School Board received an anonymous letter from eight high-level administrators describing professional misconduct of the Superintendent’s Senior Advisor," said Mernoff. "After a review of the reports, it has been determined that the trust of our Executive leaders has been broken. We, the community, are convinced the overall intervention and the factual conditions of PPSD while under the takeover, has exasperated [sic] the already depleted morale of our school community."

Three weeks ago, former Providence Mayors Joe Paolino and Angel Taveras joined Mayor Jorge Elorza and criticized the confusing -- and ineffective -- management of the schools under the current state control. 

The state takeover is no man's land -- it appears that no one is really in charge and no one is really responsible.

Pointing to what they said are the current constraints on the superintendent and principals due to the state’s takeover of Providence schools, the Mayors urged incoming Mayor Brett Smiley to increase the number of public charter schools if needed. 

Elorza, Taveras, and Paolino made four recommendations, saying one to highlight is how Smiley should work with the Providence Teachers Union (PTU) to “fix the unworkable management structure.”

According to the three Mayors, “Currently, the Providence Public School District (PPSD) is governed by contract provisions, teacher tenure laws, and state arbitration laws. Together, this structure strips principals and the superintendent of the autonomy and power to act in a broad array of circumstances and stands in the way of bringing about meaningful change. Most noteworthy is principals’ and superintendents’ lack of basic authority to manage their own personnel and to set their own calendar, regardless of whether the City of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has ultimate oversight of PPSD.”

The Mayors outlined that the structural breakdown, and the “unworkable management structure” it creates, must be fixed. 

They recommended that these changes are "so critical" that if Smiley is not able to achieve them, they recommend that he can achieve that same autonomy by increasing the number of public charter schools districtwide, saying that nationally, public charter schools have proven to provide leadership with both the flexibility and autonomy needed to impact change at the classroom level.

 

Violence and Misleading Information by School Administrators

On Wednesday, three students beat and kicked another student as the victim was lying on the floor of a hallway at Central High School.

That was fight was broken up by students.

The student who was assaulted then pulled a knife from his pants and chased after the three.

The principal then tried to stop the student who was racing down the hall with a knife -- then, the principal was stabbed.

According to police, that student resisted arrest when he was taken into custody.

That student now faces three charges -- two are felonies.

How do we know about the severity of the beating and the following events?

We know this because GoLocal received a video of the incident and published it.

The depiction of the violence stands in stark contrast to the letter the administrators sent to parents prior to the video being released, in which the school administration tried to downplay the incident 

The administrators of Providence Public Schools are now being criticized by most every constituency -- it is hard to defend their actions. The outcomes are awful, the buy-in is being lost, and the trust is evaporating.

No parent wants to send their child to an educational environment that is violent. And, no faculty wants to work at "fight club."

Just last week, GoLocal celebrated a Central student receiving $40,000 in educational funding. Kudos to that achievement, but to build a new functional educational structure, it needs to be based on more than misleading public relations tactics intended to save face rather than inform families and the public as to what is really going on in the schools. 

Providence Public Schools' leadership is under fire by all sides for lack of honesty and credibility. This letter sent out this week -- juxtaposed with the video -- seems only to expand that lack of trust. 

An editorial is the opinion of a publication — specifically, the ownership.

While based on facts and news reporting, it is an opinion intended to discuss critical community issues. Often, the opinion is written with the intention of positive change.

GoLocal editorials have sparked conversations, change, and even the naming of a bridge.

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