Rhode Island K-12 Council Approves Action on Providence Schools

Published on Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Delegates authority to Commissioner Infante-Green to intervene in city's schools

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education tonight approved an agenda item that grants to the Commissioner of Education its authority to take action to assert control over the Providence Public School District (PPSD). While the Council action allows the Commissioner to intervene in PPSD, a legal process will take place before the state will assert control of the school district.

The unanimous 7-0 vote came after the release last month of a devastating independent review of PPSD by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy that revealed the depths of the crisis gripping Providence’s schools. After the report’s release, RIDE and the City of Providence hosted nine public forums across the city to hear directly from students, families, and educators. Their testimony reinforced and broadened the core findings of the report.

“The Council members were unanimous tonight in their clear and direct response to the severe challenges facing the Providence schools,” explained Barbara Cottam, Board of Education Chair. “We fully endorse Commissioner Infante-Green’s recommendation, and will remain engaged and active as she and RIDE develop an action plan for lasting change in the Providence schools.”

“I want to thank the Council for its leadership, decisiveness, and support tonight,” said Angélica Infante-Green, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. “I will need everyone involved to display the same qualities as we work to turn Providence schools into the model system that our students deserve. I look forward to working with my team and the entire community as we develop a plan for fundamental change that lasts for generations.”

The vote of the Council is just the first step toward the Commissioner exercising decision-making authority over the district, and the decision starts a legal process that will last approximately 90 days until a final order is issued. During this time, PPSD will remain under the oversight and control of the City and Acting/Interim Superintendent, who will be responsible for preparing for and opening the 2019-2020 school year on September 3.

The next step in the legal process is for the Commissioner to issue a Draft Proposal for Decision and Order Exercising Control over the PPSD and Reconstituting Schools, which will outline the future decision-making structure for Providence schools. RIDE anticipates that the Draft Proposal for Decision and Order will be issued in the next two weeks. At that time, the Commissioner will also issue a notice to the Mayor of Providence, the Providence City Council, the Providence School Board, and the Acting/Interim Superintendent giving them the opportunity to show cause why she should not take control of the district and reconstitute schools within the district.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Infante-Green and her team will work with stakeholders across the city and state to develop a plan for long-term change in PPSD. RIDE anticipates unveiling the plan in early fall 2019, once the legal process concludes.

The specific recommendation that the Council approved, which is governed by the Crowley Act, reads as follows:

RECOMMENDATION: THAT, the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, pursuant to its powers under R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-60-6 and, specifically, its power to assign the Commissioner certain duties, delegate to the Commissioner the Council’s power and authority to take actions consistent with, and in furtherance of, RIDE’s intervention in and support of the Providence Public School District, which would include, but not be limited to, assuming control of the District, the reconstitution of the Providence Public Schools and any other power (at law and in equity) available to the Council as may be authorized by law and as may be determined to be necessary and appropriate by the Commissioner.

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