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March 2008
School districts don’t always hire educators as superintendents
Posted Thursday, March 27, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — It’s no surprise that a former military leader with proven managerial skills was chosen as the district’s next superintendent of schools.
During the past 10 years, between 15 percent and 20 percent of the nation’s big-city superintendents have come from non-traditional backgrounds, according to Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. No longer are school leaders expected to rise through the ranks, a trajectory followed by Supt. Donnie Evans, who began his career as a math teacher and punched every ticket before becoming Providence’s superintendent 2½ years ago.
Now, school leaders come from the law, from community colleges and universities, from nonprofit organizations and from nearly every branch of the military.
In New York City, Supt. Joe Klein was a federal prosecutor and the leaders of school districts in Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Philadelphia have, at one time or another, hailed from the military or the legal profession.
“First of all, pedagogy is not rocket science,” said Timothy G. Quinn, managing director of the Broad Superintendent Academy. “You don’t need to grow up in an educational institution to understand teaching and learning. A superintendent has to be a CEO. It really takes someone who is politically savvy, thick-skinned, passionate about doing what’s right for kids and has the know-how to manage complex systems.”
Thomas M. Brady, who was named the district’s new superintendent on Tuesday, has those kinds of skills, according to Quinn and Casserly. Brady spent a year at the Broad Superintendent Academy in 2004 and Casserly worked with Brady while he was chief operating officer in Washington, D.C., and Fairfax County, Va.
No organization does a better job of teaching and learning than the military, Quinn said. One of the key books used by the Broad academy is Victory in our Schools, which was written by retired Army Maj. Gen. John Stanford, who shook up the Seattle schools during the 1990s.
Providence, Quinn said, needs someone who can get it done. All too often, non-academic issues such as transportation and personnel management sidetrack what’s happening in the classroom.
Just last week, the Council for Great City Schools reported that the Providence school district’s human resources department is so woefully inadequate that it is barely able to perform the most basic functions.
In January, more than 2,200 teachers and administrators were notified that the School Department had failed to deduct the full FICA payments for the previous year. (FICA, the Federal Insurance Contribution Act, finances Social Security and Medicare). The miscalculation was caused by a computer programming glitch in the human resources department.
Brady addressed his apparent lack of academic experience in an interview with The Journal. A large urban school district needs someone who can manage complex systems, he said. It needs someone who can define the district’s mission, then tap the right people to see that those goals are achieved.
Brady has certainly had experience running big systems. As the commander of Fort Belvoir, Va., he oversaw a $770-million budget, $94 million in contracts and more than 20,000 residents. In his current position as interim superintendent in Philadelphia, Brady is responsible for running the eighth-largest school district in the country. And as the chief operating officer of the District of Columbia public schools, he managed a $1 billion budget.
“His interpersonal and political skills are truly outstanding,” Casserly said. “He’s a guy who people like, who’s very accessible. He’s got solid political instincts, all of which he’ll need in Providence.”
From Diana Lam to Donnie Evans, Providence has had a history of strong instructional leaders, according to state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, who attributes the latest gains in elementary and middle school scores to that leadership.
The district, he said, doesn’t need another education wizard. It needs a superintendent who can deliver the textbooks on time, someone who can sign a contract with teachers and find savings in the midst of a budget crisis.
“Tom Brady is not coming here with all of the answers,” McWalters said. “He’s coming here to build relationships. He’s said, ‘I’m going to listen.’ ”
Superintendent's Resignation
Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008
March 20, 2008
Dear Colleague:
It is no secret that during the past 2 ½ years, the Providence Teachers Union has had major differences of opinion with School Board President, Mary McClure and School Superintendent, Donnie Evans, on matters pertaining to district leadership.
On numerous occasions, we reached out to these individuals in an attempt to form a true partnership – a partnership of teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders aimed at formulating and implementing a strategy for school improvement and student success. On each occasion, our ideas and our suggestions were routinely dismissed.
In all fairness to Superintendent Evans, while faced with a rapid deteriorating school system underfunded and understaffed, he received poor direction from the School Board.
And so, once again, the Providence School Department finds itself in the unenjoyable position of having to find a new school chief. I will be speaking with Mayor Cicilline regarding this search. I will also offer our ideas on a school partnership. Hopefully, the Mayor will advise the search team of this opportunity and hopefully the new superintendent will recognize the value of including us.
I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank each and every teacher for the outstanding work you have done during a period of misdirection and uncertainty. You have, once again, demonstrated your true professionalism. Yet with this note of appreciation comes the belief that we must continue the struggle for acceptance as a valued partner in the education of our youth. We must, therefore, continue to demonstrate that we are a Union of professionals, a Union of today, proud of its tradition and prepared for the future.
I thank you for your assistance and urge you to advise me on your thoughts about a new start with a new leader.
Sincerely,
Steven F. Smith
President
SFS/mmf
Shoe-string budget leaves schools in dire straits
Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The proposed 2008-2009 school budget is so bare-bones that the district’s chief financial officer, Mark Dunham, said the School Department will barely be able to keep the buildings clean and the lights on.
At $322.9 million, the proposed budget includes a shortfall of $9.7 million, and Dunham said he had no answers as to how that deficit will be made up. The budget does not set aside any money for salary increases during a year in which teachers are negotiating a new contract, which is in its second year of discussion. A 1-percent salary hike, for example, would cost an additional $1.9 million.
The budget presumes that there will be no additional aid from either the state or the city.
“It feels like we are bankrupt,” said School Board President Mary McClure at last night’s board meeting. “What can we do if we don’t meet our legal obligation [to balance the budget]? We’re very close to not meeting our legal obligation.”
Dunham responded that the district was “close to not being able to run the schools. We’re close to being in peril.”
Last year, the district took extraordinary measures to balance the budget, increasing class sizes for special education students, a move that infuriated teachers and parents and caused the union to appeal the change to the state commissioner of education. Commissioner Peter McWalters, however, upheld the district’s request. And in 2006, the school district helped close its budget shortfall by temporarily closing Nathan Bishop Middle School on the East Side, another unpopular decision.
The proposed budget represents an increase of $8.6 million or 2.7 percent over last year’s $314.3 million budget. Of that increase, pension fund contributions and medical insurance absorb the largest piece of the pie, $4.4 million; out-of-district placements for special education are expected to cost $400,000 and contracted salary increases add up to $600,000.
There is hardly any money in the budget, Dunham said, to pay for programs that would contribute directly toward improving student achievement, measures like reducing class size, offering common planning time for teachers and providing more professional training.
“We’ve been living modestly,” he told the board. “But we’ve been regressing as far as resources go.”
According to Dunham, 350 employees have been shed over the past 10 years and 42 teachers are expected to receive the ax this year. Meanwhile, both state and local aid have been declining for the past two years. Last year, Providence received no increase in school aid from the General Assembly and Mayor David N. Cicilline and the City Council cut a total of $8 million from the School Department’s original budget proposal.
Complicating matters, a new state law further limits how much cities and towns can raise taxes. This year, Providence can raise a maximum of $12 million in new tax revenues, Dunham said.
The school district, however, is required by state law to provide a number of services, from textbooks to school nurses for private and parochial schools, which cost approximately $3 million. The City Council recently hired a lawyer to investigate how the public schools are funded, including the private school issue, Dunham said.
The district is facing several big unknowns, including the amount of school aid allocated by both state and local government and any salary increases in the new teachers’ contract.
The budget must be sent to Cicilline by April 28, well before the state aid figures are finalized. The school budget is submitted to the council in May and should be back before the School Board in July or August.
State wants role in selection of new Providence superintendent.
Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The state commissioner of education met with Mayor David N. Cicilline yesterday and told him that he wants to play a role in the selection of a new superintendent.
Cicilline contacted Commissioner Peter McWalters after Supt. Donnie Evans announced his resignation on Monday, shortly before the School Board was prepared to vote on whether to renew his contract. Evans promised to remain in Providence until his contract expires on Sept. 19, which should give the city time to hire a new school leader.
“They talked in general terms about the process of recruiting a new superintendent and Peter made it clear that he wants to play a role in the recruiting and hiring process,” said Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. “The state has a huge investment in Providence. The selection of a leader is part of RIDE’s engagement.”
Exactly what role McWalters will play in the selection of a new superintendent remains to be seen, Krieger said. The theme of yesterday’s meeting was that the state Department of Education remains committed to working closely with Providence to make sure there is a smooth transition from one superintendent to another.
“Providence is in its sixth year of intervention and this is the fourth superintendent in a short period of time,” Krieger said. “Both Peter and the mayor are concerned about stability and transition issues. There are many good people in the central office. Peter wants to make sure that they are encouraged to stay.”
McWalters reassured the mayor that the Providence schools are on the right track, pointing to the recent improvement in test scores in elementary and middle schools. According to Krieger, the commissioner pledged to work with Providence to help remove some of the barriers that get in the way of student performance.
“There are contract issues that need to be resolved, finance issues, data issues,” Krieger said, adding that McWalters wants to review the results of several studies of the district’s curriculum and the central office.
The state Department of Education has a history of involvement with the city’s schools. Three years ago, McWalters intervened in an effort to turn around Hope High School, breaking the school into three smaller schools. Under his guidance, the school brought in a new leadership team, hired new staff and restored order.
Last January, the state placed the entire district under corrective action and ordered Evans to develop a plan to improve the city’s lowest-performing schools or face possible state intervention. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, a school district is classified as one in need of corrective action when two of the three grade levels (for example, elementary and middle school) have large numbers of under-performing schools.
In response, Evans introduced a new math curriculum for struggling elementary and middle school students, offered additional reading programs, hired 20 reading teachers and conducted a review of the central office, led by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. At the middle schools, Evans also promised to create student advisories and offer teachers common planning time.
Embattled school chief Evans to leave
Posted Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By Daniel Barbarisi and Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writers
PROVIDENCE — Supt. Donnie W. Evans unexpectedly announced last night that he will not try for another term as the city’s schools chief and will leave when his contract expires in September. Evans withdrew his candidacy hours before the School Board was to decide whether to renew the embattled superintendent’s contract for another three years.
Evans’ decision to step down comes amid a chorus of criticism from the City Council and the teachers union, much of it regarding his actions during the Dec. 13 snowstorm, when more than 100 schoolchildren were stuck on city school buses late into the night.
Mayor David N. Cicilline had also chastised his superintendent after the storm, but he insisted last night that Evans left of his own volition.
Related links
Providence Supt. Donnie Evans' letter of resignation
Survey: Grade Donnie Evans' performance as school chief
“The decision that Dr. Evans made not to seek renewal of his contract was his decision. I am certainly grateful for the work that he’s done. I am grateful for his dedication and his integrity and hard work. The responsibility now is to ensure we have the leadership that can move the district forward,” Cicilline said.
“Obviously, I don’t think it’s any secret that no one was satisfied with the pace of improvement,” Cicilline allowed.
Evans offered little insight into the reasons for his departure, saying in his resignation letter that he was leaving for “personal and professional reasons to pursue other opportunities.”
“My decision to leave was not made lightly. I want you, as well as every employee, student, and family in this district to know that my experience in Providence has been both rewarding and challenging,” Evans wrote to the School Board. He did not return calls seeking comment last night.
Evans’ contract runs through Sept. 19. Cicilline and School Board Chairwoman Mary McClure said that a nationwide search for Evans’ successor is already under way, but would answer no questions about specific candidates or whether interviews had taken place.
City Council Majority Leader Terrence M. Hassett said that he knew of talks between Providence officials and a high-ranking school official in Philadelphia about the Providence job. Last night, the Philadelphia Inquirer posted a story on its Web site stating that outgoing Philadelphia schools chief Tom Brady has emerged as a leading candidate for the Providence superintendent position. Brady, a retired Army colonel, has been Philadelphia’s interim chief executive officer for the past year.
Hassett and fellow council members Nicholas J. Narducci and Kevin Jackson are among a large group of anti-Evans councilors who have faulted the superintendent for what they said was poor communication during the storm. In advance of the decision on Evans this week, Hassett and Narducci issued statements calling for the board not to renew Evans. The City Council also went to the brink of voting no-confidence in the schools chief in January, before pulling back at the last minute under heavy pressure from the mayor. Hassett said that Evans’ departure is a good thing for the School Department, and that the council’s agitation helped push Evans out.
“I think the council’s resolve was very strong. The internal pressure, I think, combined with the public pronouncements about the lack of support, was a big factor in making this happen,” Hassett said.
The Providence Teachers Union has been just as loud in its condemnation of Evans. Last week, the union voted no confidence in Evans and McClure. The union and the city have been locked in a contract dispute for seven months.
Evans is the third straight superintendent to last only three years in Providence. Diana Lam came to the city in 1999, and left for the New York City school system in August 2002. She was replaced by Melody Johnson, who left for Fort Worth, Texas, in 2005 despite the School Board’s offer of another three-year deal. Evans succeeded her that fall.
Although Evans’ contract was set to run out in September, his deal stipulated that he must be given six months’ notice if it was not going to be renewed. The School Board has spent the last several months delving into Evans’ record in Providence in an attempt to decide whether to retain him.
Neither Cicilline nor McClure would say what the School Board would have decided had Evans not taken himself out of the running.
“He’s certainly brought a lot of expertise to the district. I have a great deal of respect for him and what he’s done with us, and I would like to thank him,” McClure said.
School Board Secretary Robert Wise, however, said that the board wanted Evans to return.
“We wanted to keep him around. We wanted him to stay,” Wise said.
McClure said she didn’t believe that Evans’ resignation had anything to do with criticism that he awarded the woman who would later become his wife, Charlene M. Staley, a contract with the School Department last year.
In April, the district hired Staley to develop and administer a questionnaire to special-education staff at a cost of $4,200, in addition to compensation for travel, lodging and meals. The contract ran from April 17 until Aug. 1.
In an interview last week, Evans denied that there was any conflict of interest involving his wife, whom he married a month ago, and expressed “outrage” that anyone was making an issue out of the contract.
Evans said that he met Staley in 1992 when he was working at the University of South Florida and she was the university liaison with the Tampa, Fla., school district.
After he became assistant superintendent in Tampa in 1998, Staley became a member of his staff, working first as the charter school director and later working in special education.
At the time, Evans described Staley as a “trusted colleague and friend,” but said they were not romantically involved. He said that a romantic relationship didn’t develop until the summer, after Staley was awarded the contract. By the time that Staley was hired, Evans said that he was already in the process of getting a divorce.
“Anyone who checks Charlene’s background would know right away that she is the most qualified person for the work,” Evans said last week. “She has taught special education to students with learning disabilities, to the mentally handicapped, for a long time. She had taught teachers and administrators. I saw her skills firsthand.”
The contract wasn’t put out to bid because it cost less than $5,000, the cut-off point. She is not doing any work for the school district at this time.
Evans, 58, came to the 26,000-student Providence system from the Tampa area, where he was a top administrator in the 190,000-student Hillsborough district. His most recent annual salary in Providence was $190,742.
In his resignation letter, Evans listed his greatest achievements here as: increasing the number of schools making annual progress; higher percentages of students performing at grade level; implementing intervention programs for struggling students; and gaining national recognition for several Providence schools.
At the same time, his critics said his list of failures included the closing of the West Broadway Elementary School, an increase in special education class sizes, and the snowstorm debacle.
Vote of No Confidence Results
Posted Monday, March 17, 2008
March 14, 2008
Dear Colleague,
The results are in. Thirteen hundred ninety-one (1,391) or 70% of the entire membership voted whether or not to authorize the Providence Teachers Union Executive Board to issue a No Confidence statement in the leadership of the Providence Public Schools. Of those voting, 1,346 or 97% voted in favor of the No Confidence statement while 45 or 3% voted in opposition to such action. The Executive Board met on Friday, March 14, 2008 to take action on the vote.
In addition, approximately 700 teachers braved the early morning cold to form an informational picket line to further emphasize our dissatisfaction with the manner in which our school system is being led.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to all those who participated in the vote and/or the picket line. Our desire to become equal partners in all aspects of public education in Providence is overwhelming. I am most grateful for your help and pledge my continued efforts to achieve our goal.
Again, I appreciate and thank you for your continued support and assistance.
Sincerely,
Steven F. Smith
President
Union pickets, votes no confidence in Evans, McClure
Posted Monday, March 17, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence Teachers Union has voted overwhelmingly to express its lack of confidence in the administration of Supt. Donnie Evans and School Board President Mary McClure.
Carrying signs that said, “Rekindle the Dream/Stop the Nightmare,” and “A Blizzard of Blunders,” more than 100 members of the union staged an informational picket in front of the School Administration Building at 797 Westminster St. early yesterday. Teachers, who received ballots by mail two weeks ago, voted 1,347 to 44 against the direction that the administration is taking, union President Steve Smith said yesterday.
The ballot question claimed that students were being denied a quality education and cited more than a dozen supposed missteps by the administration, including problems related to the Dec. 13 snowstorm, which stranded more than 100 students on school buses until late at night and resulted in a 30-day suspension of Tomas Hanna, the deputy superintendent of operations.
The ballot also cited Evans’ decision to increase class size for special education students, which resulted in an unsuccessful lawsuit by the union against the district; the supposed “flip-flop” on the new high school graduation requirements; and a “mass exodus” of teachers and administrators during Evans’ two-and-a-half years in office.
The no-confidence vote is just the latest episode in the deteriorating relationship between the union and administration. According to union leaders, teacher morale is at an all-time low. Meanwhile, the teachers’ contract expired seven months ago and a mediator was brought in earlier this winter to help speed negotiations.
Smith, however, isn’t the only one who has become increasingly critical of Evans’ leadership. In the wake of the school bus problems in December, five members of the City Council signed a resolution calling for Evans’ dismissal, but later backed down after a strong lobbying effort by Mayor David N. Cicilline.
The union action comes as the School Board is scheduled to announce Tuesday whether Evans’ contract, which is due to expire Sept. 19, will be renewed. Although the union said it didn’t time the vote to coincide with the board’s decision, Smith said that he hopes the board takes notice of the teachers’ voices.
“December 13 was the culminating event,” Smith said yesterday. “That’s when we began to have a discussion about whether we should make a statement regarding the administration’s ability to lead the district. The vote is timely. At least the School Board can be under no illusion as to the overwhelming opinion of their employees.”
The School Department issued a short statement yesterday on behalf of Evans and McClure that said that the administration has tremendous respect for the “hard-working, dedicated teachers” of Providence and remains committed to negotiating a “forward-looking contract” that will put children first while supporting what teachers need.
“We have all been disheartened by years of poor student outcomes, including low graduation rates, high dropout rates, low test scores and low participation in advanced courses,” the statement said. “We must act now as educators to put aside any and all other motivations and work together to meet the needs of our students.”
In a memo sent to all principals Wednesday, Hanna said that any significant disruptions to student learning or safety issues as a result of the union’s picketing should be immediately reported to the administration’s operations office. The memo also said that any employee reporting late to work should be addressed “per normal protocols.”
Yesterday, teachers on the picket line expressed their frustration with what they perceive as a lack of direction together with a lack of support for the jobs they do every day.
Two teachers from Classical High School, Edward Rissio and Karen Hickey, complained that Evans has adopted a one-size-fits-all approach to high school curriculum, adding that the administration doesn’t recognize that Classical’s mission as a college-prep exam school differs from the other large high schools.
“Our professional development is in shambles,” a teacher said.
Teachers at Classical also said that the curriculum developed recently by the district and the professional training lack rigor. One teacher said that the new math curriculum is too easy for Classical students, who have to pass an examination to gain admission to the high school.
A guidance counselor from E{+3} Academy, a small high school, said that he gets conflicting messages from the central administration regarding the state’s new proficiency-based graduation requirements, which require students to demonstrate mastery by completing two of the following activities: end-of-course exams, senior projects or portfolios of their work. The new requirements apply to this year’s senior class.
“We’re here to show the superintendent and the School Board president that 1,300 teachers are dissatisfied with the job that they’re doing,” said Mary Beth Calabro, vice president of the union and a special education teacher at Nathanael Greene Middle School. “We want people to know that [the administration] has let the kids down.”
The last time that the union took a vote of no confidence was in October 2001, when Diana Lam was superintendent. At the time, 1,700 teachers also overwhelmingly rejected a three-year contact and agreed to work to rule.
Smith yesterday cited what he called “a litany of missteps, miscommunication and poor decision-making” by Evans and his administration, including the surprise decision last year to close (and ultimately relocate) West Broadway Elementary School and a proposal to permanently close Nathan Bishop Middle School, a decision that was later reversed after a public outcry by East Side parents. At the time, teachers and parents said they were blindsided by the decisions and complained that no one in administration asked for their opinions.
Smith said that the union has no plans to strike or work to rule, in which faculty members refuse to perform any duties beyond those spelled out in the contract.
“We’re going to continue to speak out at board meetings and plan on communicating our message to parents,” Smith said. “We will explore any and all vehicles, including contacting community groups and getting our message out through the news media.”
Educators still flock to see improvements at Hope
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School was in the spotlight again yesterday as two dozen educators from across the country visited the school as part of a two-day tour to investigate Rhode Island’s new high school diploma system.
The members of the American Youth Policy Forum met yesterday with state education leaders, including Robert Flanders, chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters and Colleen Callahan, director of professional issues for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.
The team spent the afternoon at Hope, meeting with the school’s three principals, visiting classrooms and speaking with students and teachers. The afternoon ended with a discussion about high school reform with Supt. Donnie Evans.
“We’re very interested in proficiency-based graduation requirements and how they are being implemented,” said Betsy Brand, director of the American Youth Forum, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We’re interested in Hope because of its history as a low-performing school that moved to three smaller schools.”
The visitors included educators and education policy-makers from Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Arkansas, Michigan and Washington, D.C. Today, the team will visit Shea High School in Pawtucket and Coventry High School.
Yesterday, Brand praised McWalters for having the courage to buck the tide of high-stakes testing and implement proficiency-based graduation requirements, which ask students to demonstrate mastery in specific skills by taking end-of-course exams, completing senior projects or developing a portfolio of their work. Students have to complete two of the options to graduate this year.
“Rhode Island has been — and is — a leader in looking beyond a single high-stakes testing system,” Brand said. “The challenge is for districts to think creatively about how you create a proficiency system within the framework of No Child Left Behind.”
At Hope High School yesterday, the three principals — Wayne Montague, Arthur Petrosinelli and Scott Sutherland — recited what has become a familiar storyline: McWalters, disheartened by the school’s chronically poor performance, placed the school under state control three years ago. He ordered Hope to break into three smaller learning communities, each based on a theme. From there, the high school hired 52 new teachers, cracked down on discipline, helped teachers craft entirely new curricula and gave teachers ample time to plan together.
Today, Hope High School has an individual learning plan, called the I-Pass, which has received national recognition and has been adopted as a model by the state. The school has developed partnerships with a half-dozen area colleges, which have not only helped the district revise its curricula but also have provided real-world learning opportunities for students.
But Hope’s leaders were frank about how far the school has to go. Petrosinelli, technology school principal, said he was stunned when the math scores were released recently and hardly any students in the building met proficiency.
He said, “I don’t think that the scores truly reflect what’s happening here.”
That said, Hope High School got to work: the entire faculty reviewed the test scores and many teachers have actually taken sample math questions to see how hard the New England Common Assessment is. In fairness, faculty members pointed out, this is the first time that Rhode Island students have taken the NECAP, and most schools haven’t had time to align the new test with classroom instruction.
“We have to find a new way of teaching math,” Petrosinelli said. “I hate to say it, but we have to find a way of teaching to the test.”
“Do students know that the test is meaningless?” one of the visiting educators said.
Yes. Unlike what happens in other states, students are not graded on the NECAP, although it will count toward the high school graduation requirements. The state requires only that students take the test to graduate; they don’t have to pass it.
The visiting team also heard from several students and teachers, who told them that Hope High School has undergone nothing short of an extreme makeover since McWalters intervened three years ago. Hope, which students often called “hopeless,” was a school spiraling out of control before the new leadership team took over.
“What would you change about the school?” one visiting educator asked.
“I’d change going home every day,” said senior Ari Bzisbon, adding that he’d like to spend more time in school.
Another student said she would like to have more support for students who speak English as a second language while a third student said the school needs more computers so students can keep electronic records of their portfolios.
A couple of visitors struggled with the notion that Hope answers to two masters: the district and the state Department of Education. Sutherland explained that it isn’t always a perfect marriage, adding that the district’s goals are not always the same as the school’s.
Sutherland gave the following example to underscore his point. Hope High School, along with 10 other high schools, chose the portfolio as part of its new graduation requirement, but the district has indicated that it wants high schools to adopt senior projects instead.
In a portfolio class, every student raised their hand when asked about their plans to attend college. When asked about that afterward, Sutherland acknowledged that not every student who wants to go to college will have the grades and the skills necessary for admission. But Sutherland said that the school is asking more of its students and trying to prepare them for the real world.
“What do you do about the graduation requirements when students move?” a visitor said.
Both Sutherland and Evans said the district’s high rate of mobility — a third of all students move at least once each year — poses challenges that smaller school systems don’t have to face. When a student transfers to Hope during senior year, the school tries to find alternative ways to measure proficiency, such as performance on a district test.
Could Hope High School have turned itself around so quickly if it had a traditional leadership structure, with one principal and two assistants? Sutherland said yes, but that reform would have happened at a slower pace without six administrators. Each of the three principals, for example, has a primary area of concentration: Sutherland is the point man on curriculum, Petrosinelli focuses on discipline and Montague has been very involved in creating partnerships with the community.
At the end of the day, the visiting team seemed taken with the new Hope High School.
“I was a teacher for many years and from what I’ve seen here today, I’d want to come here,” said Jimmy Jeffress, a state senator from Arkansas.
“This is the kind of leadership that I never got. I commend you and the state for what you’re doing. I’d be willing to come out of retirement to work here.”
Upgrade plans for 2 Providence schools make progress
Posted Tuesday, March 11, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Plans for both a renovated Nathan Bishop Middle School and an enlarged Hanley Career and Technical Center, the first two projects in the city’s sweeping school building overhaul, are on track for a fall 2009 completion.
Alan Sepe, the city’s acting director of public property, said the Nathan Bishop renovation has gone out to bid, while Gilbane Inc. has been awarded the contract for the Hanley addition and construction of an adjacent athletic complex.
In December, the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education approved a $35-million renovation of the East Side middle school and a $40.8-million expansion of Hanley in the West End, next to Central High School.
The middle school project has been championed by the East Side Public Education committee, a group of parents who organized after Supt. Donnie Evans decided to temporarily close the middle school last year, citing chronically poor student performance and declining enrollment.
Parents urged Evans to reconsider and he did, appointing a study committee to come up with a design for a new middle school. Under the approved plan, Nathan Bishop will have a planned enrollment of 750 students, larger than the 450 to 500 students recommended by the parent-led study committee. Plans call for retaining Nathan Bishop’s “doughnut-shape” with a major renovation of the interior, including a two-story library and media center and numerous energy-saving additions.
The new Nathan Bishop will offer student advisories, team teaching and an advanced curriculum open to all students, depending on their interests.
Meanwhile, the Hanley Career and Technical Center has been greatly expanded. The original plans called for renovating the school and connecting it to a smaller building that includes the gym and cafeteria at a cost of $32 million.
DeJONG consultants, which conducted a citywide survey of the district’s 42 public schools last year, recommended building a second career and technical high school next to Mount Pleasant High School. However, as the School Department considered the proposal, it became apparent that a second technical high school would be too expensive. Sepe said it made more sense to combine Hanley with the new career high school.
The plan now is to demolish the existing Haney cafeteria and gym building and replace it with a 100,000-square-foot addition that will be connected to a new athletic complex. The complex, which will be 65,000 square feet, will include an indoor track, tennis courts, three indoor basketball courts and additional space for academics.
The Hanley project will cost $72 million. The school will accommodate 800 students, twice the current enrollment. Demolition of the old Hanley cafeteria and gym will begin within the next four weeks, with construction beginning in late spring.
Bishop and Hanley are the first phase of a projected $792-million school renovation project. The city is responsible for floating 20-year bonds to pay for the projects but the state reimburses the city for 80 percent of the costs.
Arts education a struggle in Providence schools
Posted Thursday, March 6, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Katharina Shroeter has her hands full. She divides her time between two elementary schools, Martin Luther King Jr. and Reservoir Avenue. Between them, she teaches art to 700 students.
Shroeter, however, has a better deal than many of her elementary school colleagues, who see between 900 and 1,000 students a week. (Middle school teachers see 260 students a week while high school teachers have 130 students). Still, this veteran teacher is stymied. With classes lasting only 30 minutes, she said students barely have time to get started on a project before it is time to clean up.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” she said. “They are not getting a lot of painting. We used to have ceramics. We have a kiln at Martin Luther King. But there isn’t enough time to set up.”
There have been cutbacks in art and music instruction since the first round of budget shortfalls in 2002. In December 2006, Peter McWalters, the state education commissioner, ruled that the Providence schools were in violation of their basic education plan and ordered the district to restore art and music programs.
In his letter, McWalters criticized Providence for not providing a comprehensive program of art instruction, including separate facilities for the creation, storage and display of arts work, supplies and materials. There is no evidence, he said, that the city’s high schools have access to the kinds of courses that provide in-depth work in art history, criticism and career education required by the basic education plan.
Although McWalters acknowledged that the school district has dealt with several years of budget cuts that resulted in the loss of many art and music teachers, he also said that budget constraints were no excuse for not meeting the education plan.
In response, Supt. Donnie Evans submitted plans to restore the arts. However, in a Feb 8 letter to the Providence Teachers Union, McWalters said that the district is still not complying with the basic education plan.
Despite his earlier comments, McWalters said that he was not going to demand compliance because the district “at this time does not have the adequacy of resources to meet these requirements, especially in small themed high schools.”
“Given the complexity of the issues faced by the [school district] in meeting the basic education plan,” he said, “we acknowledge that the [district] is not in compliance with the [basic education plan].”
Since the state Department of Education has been asked to revise the state’s basic education plan, McWalters, in his letter to the union, said that it doesn’t make sense to launch any further investigation into the district’s fine arts offerings.
Meanwhile, art teachers are trying to do more with less. Shroeter said she is fortunate to work at King Elementary because the school has a large, well-stocked art room, thanks in large part to the generosity of the Parent Teacher Organization and retired teachers. At the Reservoir Avenue School, however, the supplies are depleted. Last year, she said, the school was left with little else than crayons and paper.
“This is my 13th year of teaching,” Shroeter said. “When I first started, we had hour-long blocks with the same children. We had two teachers at Carl Lauro Elementary School. We had art clubs. And we had all the arts supplies we needed.”
Martin Luther King is fortunate in other respects. The East Side school also offers art enrichment — smaller, project-based classes for students who are either gifted in art or struggling in core subjects such as English and math. The school also excludes art and music teachers from lunchroom duty in recognition of their heavy teaching schedules, according to Principal Michael Lazzareschi.
“We’re really the exception to the rule,” he said. “We have an after-school program funded by the PTO. Parents [who] play instruments have taught pieces of the music class.”
But even at King, Lazzareschi said that it is difficult to squeeze arts classes into the schedule because of the increasing emphasis on math and literacy instruction.
Even the district agrees that students are getting shortchanged when it comes to the arts. Earnest Cox, administrator of advanced academics and fine arts, said art classes are not long enough and added that it is the “ultimate goal of the district that art and music classes have the same amount of time as other courses.”
Elementary students receive either 30 minutes a week or one hour every two weeks. At the middle and high school levels, art classes last 55 minutes except at schools with a block schedule, in which case students may have 90 minutes of art.
Not every teacher has to split time between schools, however. Cox said that elementary schools with more than 900 students have a full-time art instructor as do middle schools. Every high school has at least one art teacher, except the Providence Academy of International Studies, which offers dance instead of art.
Cox also acknowledged that school supplies, in general, are limited because of budget restraints, adding that art teachers have a limited amount of money to buy materials. The district, however, is looking into grants to support art education.
In response to McWalters’ order, Cox said the district has taken some steps to provide more art and music offerings:
•Art and music have been restored to every middle school.
•The new Adelaide Avenue High School has an additional art teacher as well as a music teacher.
•And the district is working on schedules to make sure that elementary school children receive an hour of art and music instruction every other week.
Meanwhile, Shroeter tries to connect her art classes with what colleagues are teaching in other subjects. If a fourth-grade teacher is doing a unit on ancient cultures, then she will teach a related class on hieroglyphics.
Still, it isn’t easy to carve out time to plan assignments with other teachers.
“You end up exhausted by the end of the day,” she said. “Mondays, I take a nap. Young kids have so much energy.”
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