Providence Superintendent Peters Stepping Down After Controversy
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Providence School Superintendent Harrison Peters is out. Last week, Peters appeared on GoLocal LIVE and he said he has “got to take responsibility” for hiring school top official Dr. Olayinka Alege, who was arrested last week.
Both Peters and Alege came from Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida — where Alege was known for “toe-popping” students as a form of punishment before being told to stop.
Alege’s arrest last week was for forcibly massaging a minor’s foot at a Warwick gym. He resigned following the arrest.
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“I’m still just upset. I trusted someone that betrayed that trust,” said Peters on GoLocal LIVE. “I brought someone to the community of Providence that betrayed the trust of the community.”
Peters discussed both the recent arrest — and what he knew in Florida.
“I got an email from the Warwick Police Department and it simply said they were getting ready to investigate an allegation of Dr. Alege and a situation at the gym, so I immediately called them to get as much information as they had at the time,” he said. “In less than 24 hours we put him on administrative leave.
“When we were able to get the police report, I read some of the details…apparently there’s video out there that corroborates some of the victim’s assertions. That was a deal breaker; I immediately asked Dr. Alege for his resignation,” said Peters.
Peters Arrival in 2020
As GoLocal reported in 2020:
Peters comes to Providence from Florida, where he was Chief of Schools for Hillsborough County Public Schools -- and had been applying to be Superintendent.
Over the past few years, Peters has been a constant candidate for education jobs.
Peters has been a finalist or semi-finalist for numerous high-profile jobs across the country including Omaha, Nebraska; Jacksonville, Florida; Ascension Parish, Louisiana; Reno, Nevada; Prince George’s County, Maryland; and most recently for the top spot in his now-former Hillsborough County School district.
In Omaha, he told the local newspaper that the city wasn't just another stop in his education career. "Peters, 43, said he doesn’t intend for Omaha to be just another stop on his way to bigger and better jobs. He already has worked in some big-name urban districts, and he and his family are looking for a place — a city, a school district — to put down roots.
'I’ve done Chicago, I’ve done Houston, I’ve done Orlando,' he said. 'We have been on an amazing journey, my wife, my two sons. What I shared with the (OPS) board is we’re looking for a destination. We’re looking to settle down, and we believe Omaha Public Schools is that destination.'”
In each case, Peters was passed over.
In each case, the hiring process had a public component and his name was presented to parents, students, and faculty.
In Rhode Island, the process has been kept secret.
“The Commissioner took into account the views of the hundreds of community members she has listened to over the last nine months as she worked toward this important decision. Her selection of Harrison Peters and her commitment to a team approach reflect her judgment of how best to continue the work we are undertaking together to transform the Providence schools,” said then Meg Geoghegan, Communications Director for the Rhode Island Department of Education in defending Angelica Infante-Green’s decision for the process in 2020.
One of Peters Biggest Controversies
Peters was widely criticized for his "cover-up" of an incident of a substitute teacher allegedly masturbating in a middle school classroom while teaching. Florida reports are that the teacher was removed, but parents were not notified until a local TV station broke the story months after the incident.
The ABC affiliate reported:
Angry parents said Hillsborough School officials never notified them when a possible sex offense happened inside the classroom. And now parents are raising serious questions about how school administrators handled the investigation.
"It's just not good," one parent said.
"I'm upset because the school didn't notify me," said another.
One mother in tears told us, "Well it's just frustrating because nobody is listening."
These 3 parents and more than a dozen others we spoke to are frustrated after a substitute teacher is accused of a possible sex offense at Shields Middle School. We're protecting their identities so the children can not be identified.
One mother said she's disgusted and goes on to say, "The school seems like they're just trying to brush everything under the rug."
According to the police report, on February 17 several middle school students believed their substitute teacher may have been inappropriately touching himself behind his desk in the back of the classroom. A student captured video on a cell phone. Movement could be seen, but it's unclear for sure what was happening.
In written statements to deputies, several students claimed they saw him masturbating. Two students told deputies they saw his "belt unbuckled and his zipper down."
One student we spoke to, while the parent was present, reported to HCSO he saw a naked woman on the teacher's cell phone, and that "his erection was also visible"
"The more we started paying attention the more people we started letting know about it. And the more we started realizing what he was doing," the student told us.
The school district removed the substitute teacher and banned him from teaching at Hillsborough County Schools. But the I-Team discovered two big problems, parents said they never notified them or the sheriff's office.
"They did more than drop the ball," said a father.
We spoke with Harrison Peters who is the district's Chief of Schools and is in charge of all schools and area superintendents.
Reporter: "There was a possible sex offense investigation going on, you remove the substitute and parents weren't notified. How is that possible?"
Peters: "So yeah we didn't look at it that way. We looked at it that there was an accusation of an adult."
Reporter: "A possible sex offense."
Peters: "That's the label that you're attaching."
Reporter: "That's what it says in the police report...possible sex offense."
Peters: "And that's fair as well what we've done is we made sure that we followed all of our safety procedures, we removed the adult immediately and we launched an investigation through the police department."
Peters said all parents were notified.
"The majority of the parents were very supportive they understood", Peters told us.
But we called 20 parents whose children provided written statements to the sheriff's office and everyone we spoke with had no idea this happened.
In Rhode Island, the state said they were aware of the incident.
"Harrison has been very candid about this experience. They removed the adult immediately, contacted the authorities, and launched an investigation with law enforcement. But he recognizes that the process and communication should have been much better, and made public statements to that effect at the time," said RIDE in a statement.
Track Record of the Schools
Peters' Tampa Bay area district has touted improvements in lowering the dropout rate, but that change also coincides with coding changes in the district.
"In his Hillsborough application [for the Superintendents job], Peters noted that he played an important part in lowering the number of "F" schools in the district by 60 percent, decreasing the student suspension rate by 35 points, adding 10 "A" schools and helping 15 schools improve from "D" to “C,” reports the Tampa Bay Times.
In July of 2019, The Tampa Bay Times reported that some troubled schools in the district,"Four of the eight Hillsborough County public schools that had been placed under outside management will have to change operators, the State Board of Education told the district on Wednesday.
Meeting in Lakeland, the state board reviewed improvement plans for schools that have logged a series of low grades, including eight in Hillsborough."
