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September 2007
Students, schedules finally set at Hope High
Posted Friday, September 28, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday after all of its students were finally out of the library and into the classroom.
“It’s perfect,” Wayne Montague, the principal of the school’s Leadership Academy, said yesterday. “I checked during first period. Everything was clear. I checked second period. Everything was clear. I checked during third period. All clear.”
“It’s like today is the first day of school,” said Arthur Petrosinelli, principal of Hope’s Technology Academy, one of the school’s three learning communities.
Hope’s scheduling problems began opening day when the school was flooded with more than 100 additional students. Those students, ranging from 25 to 67 per period, were spending at least part of their day in the media center, where they were overseen by a substitute teacher and two librarians.
Last Friday, both the district and Principal Scott Sutherland, who runs the Arts Academy at Hope, were confident that the overcrowding problem would be resolved and all students would be back in class by last Monday. But Montague said that was not the case. It took longer to not only provide every student with a full class schedule but to make sure that each child also has a class advisory, a small-group setting where students discuss academic, social and personal goals.
“The solution took longer than we originally thought,” Supt. Donnie Evans said earlier this week. “We’ve given them an additional teacher.”
“We wanted to make sure that everyone had a schedule and that they had an advisory,” Montague said.
The district has also moved about 10 students with significant behavior disorders from Hope, where there was no room, to the West Broadway Elementary School in Federal Hill, which is now being used to house high school students displaced by renovations at Central High School and the adjacent Hanley Career & Technical Center.
With a class schedule that rotates daily and an early release day, retooling the class schedule at Hope to accommodate an influx of new students was a daunting task. Principals took daily surveys of every classroom to see if there were vacancies where they could squeeze in an extra student. In a couple of cases, teachers with light class loads were reassigned to teach other courses. An Advanced Placement algebra teacher, for example, is now teaching Algebra II.
The precise cause of the overcrowding problem? According to Evans, difficulties arose because of a sudden and unexpected increase in ninth-grade enrollments. But the leaders of the Providence Teachers’ Union say that the School Department knew in June that it would be unable to open a new night school for at-risk students, which was supposed to accommodate 200 to 300 students. The district also knew that Central and Haney would be operating at a reduced capacity because of extensive renovations at those two buildings.
Meanwhile, Evans has promised to get to the bottom of this year’s scheduling snafu.
“Everything is running wonderfully,” Montague said. “We all worked together.”
Evans pleased with improvements on standardized tests
Posted Thursday, September 27, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Although 11th graders in the public schools are still performing at lower levels than their peers statewide, high school students appear to be making greater gains in math and writing than many students statewide in the latest round of standardized tests.
According to Providence school officials, only 9 Rhode Island school districts showed more yearly improvement than Providence in math, and only 11 districts made more gains in English.
City high school students improved on the math portion of the New Standard Reference Exams by 2.6 percentage points, while performance on the English tests was flat, increasing by less than 1 percentage point.
That said, Providence high school students are struggling to catch up with their peers in other districts: only 36 percent are proficient in English and 23 percent are proficient in math. Compare that to the state averages, where 53.3 percent are proficient in English and 43.3 are proficient in math.
In the urban core, which includes Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket, 37.1 percent are proficient in English and 24.9 percent are proficient in math.
Providence also reduced the numbers of students who are in the lowest testing category, those who are performing substantially below proficient, and educators say that it is just as important to move students out of the lowest category as it is to move students into the highest.
Two schools, Feinstein and Mount Pleasant High Schools, made dramatic gains from the previous year. Both schools are listed under No Child Left Behind as schools in restructuring, which means that they haven’t made adequate yearly progress in four or more years and are subject to major intervention, including a state or district takeover.
“Both schools have made a great deal of effort at improving their test scores,” Supt. Donnie Evans said. “I credit the principals and the teachers for the good work that they are doing.”
“In general, I’m happy to see the increases,” he said. “When we get all of the data, I’m going to be interested to see if we have outpaced the state. We think we have. But it’s not enough. We need to work harder. I expect that our students can and will do better.”
At Feinstein High School, students made double-digit gains across the board in writing and math. In English, the number of students who were proficient jumped from 18.2 percent to 39.8 percent; in math, they increased from 7.1 percent to 23.4 percent — a 230 percent increase.
“The two schools that were in restructuring made the largest gains,” Evans said. “We’ve been doing a lot of professional development around English and math. At Feinstein, they dissect student data to determine how students are performing in specific areas.”
Feinstein Principal K.C. Perry made no bones about what did the trick in his school: “We taught them how to take the test.”
At Feinstein, where the learning revolves around research projects, students don’t have a lot of experience taking tests, so the school set up a six-week program that drilled students using sample questions provided by the testing company.
Feinstein’s principal and staff also underscored the importance of doing well on the tests. In the past, high school students haven’t taken the test very seriously because they aren’t graded on it, nor does the assessment count toward graduation. Many high schools have begun to build in incentives to encourage student interest.
At Feinstein, Perry agreed to be the target in a dunk tank if every 11th-grader showed up to take the test. Only one student out of approximately 100 missed the test.
Students also practiced writing a timed essay in response to a question or prompt so they had a clear idea of what they would encounter on the test.
“I was pretty excited at the improvement,” Perry said. “The teachers worked really hard. They were prepared to teach the kids, and the kids were prepared to take the test. They did a great job.”
At Mount Pleasant High School, math scores more than doubled: moving from 9.8 percent proficiency to 19.1.
Times{+2}, one of the city’s two charter high schools, also made remarkable progress, posting a 24-point gain in English and a 15-point gain in math. Only one high school — Classical, the city’s only examination school — performed better than Times{+2} did. Because there were only 13 students in the junior class, the test scores of one or two students can affect the performance of the entire class.
Times{+2} Academic Dean Stanley Thompson said there are real reasons why his school posted significant gains. Teachers are spending more time talking with each other about student performance, thanks to the inclusion of common planning time for teachers two years ago.
“We are not a skill-and-drill school,” Thompson said, referring to schools who “teach to the test.”
He said that Times{+2} has been trying to move students from lower-order thinking skills — the what and where questions — to higher-order analysis — the why questions. When teachers began to model critical thinking skills, the students followed suit.
Several high schools actually lost ground. Classical High School, long considered the jewel in the district’s crown, posted declines in student performance across the board, including a decrease of 7.7 percentage points in English.
Asked what was happening at Classical, Evans said, “We’re not sure, but we’d like to find out.”
Principal Cheryl Gomes acknowledged that the writing scores in particular were disappointing and said she has asked the chairman of the English department to figure out where students are struggling and how to address those shortcomings.
According to Gomes, the 2006 11th-grade class was exceptionally bright, so this year’s scores may represent a leveling off process.
Hope High School’s Leadership Academy, one of three smaller schools-within-a-school, also showed declines in both math and English scores. Principal Wayne Montague said that his school will begin offering double periods of literacy at each grade level. Ninth-graders, for example, will take regular English and writing while 11th-graders will take public speaking, a portfolio workshop and English.
“I expect scores to go up and down,” Montage said. “But when our students leave this school, they will be top-notch.”
Again, Evans said it wasn’t clear why the Leadership scores had declined, but he complimented the hard work taking place at Hope: “We see progress in other areas. In this area we need to do a lot more work.”
High schools banking on personal touch to improve performance
Posted Wednesday, September 26, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — All but 2 of the 12 public high schools have adopted a plan to create a more personal environment for their students, a move now required by the state Department of Education.
Starting with this year’s senior class, the traditional academic approach , which was based on amassing credits, will no longer be good enough to earn a high school diploma. Students now have to demonstrate that they have specific skills or competencies to graduate. In Providence, for example, students will compile portfolios of their best work in addition to completing end-of-course exams. Some schools, such as Classical High School, will require senior projects.
The new approach to graduation is driven by two things: the fact that too many high school graduates are entering college or the work force without the skills needed to succeed and because the federal government, under the No Child Left Behind Law, is holding schools accountable for student performance. Schools that fail to show adequate yearly progress now face sanctions.
One of the new state graduation requirements is that administrators make their schools more personal to bolster academic performance and discourage dropouts. Each district can choose how to personalize the classroom. In Providence, the district has decided to implement class advisories, small-group settings in which one adult, typically a teacher, spends time getting to know his students on a more personal level.
Each district can choose how to run its advisories. The state only requires that students spend a minimum of 80 minutes a month in these special classes, in which students explore academic and social goals and plan for college.
In Providence, the advisories comes in a number of shapes and colors. At Cooley Health, Science, Technology High School, advisories are twice a month for 40 minutes each. At E³ Academy and Adelaide Avenue High School, students meet every day for about 30 minutes.
Feinstein High School, however, has taken a different path. Instead of assigning one teacher to 15 students, a team of five teachers works with the same group of 90 students. The team meets with each child at least four times a year to review his or her academic progress.
“The problem with advisory,” said Feinstein Principal K.C. Perry, “is that if you have a teacher who isn’t engaged in the process, those kids can fall through the tracks. With our system, you have five sets of eyes on each student and there is less of chance of losing someone.”
Although the district has adopted advisories as its model, Perry is hopeful that Supt. Donnie Evans will accept Feinstein’s “personalization” plan because it seems to be working.
Yesterday, MacKay Miller, the facilitator for district reform, agreed that Feinstein has a solid plan:
“We recognize that there is value to the plan they have,” he said. “We need to work this out. Like the other school advisories, they are works in progress.”
Two high schools, however, have yet to adopt advisories: Central and Classical. “First of all, the district would have to have a conversation with the union,” said Elaine Almagno, the Central principal . “Right now, we have too many kids [to implement advisories]. It would put 75 percent of our teachers over the [class size] quota.”
With Central’s traditional six-period schedule, Almagno said, the school has little or no flexibility to make room for another “class.”
“We knew this was coming,” said Cheryl Gomes, the Classical principal. “We still have some contractual questions, but I could be up and running, conservatively, by the second quarter.”
If an advisory is to be effective, Gomes said, the curriculum must be tailored to age groups. Ninth-graders need help making the transition from middle school, while juniors need to work on meeting their graduation requirements and preparing their college applications.
At Classical, one possible solution is to extend home room twice a month and use that time for advisories , said Cathy Oneppo, the district’s high school facilitator.
Although a couple of principals complained that their teachers haven’t received adequate training, Miller, the district reform facilitator, said that the district has held two three-day seminars on the new high school graduation requirements for two consecutive summers. Each high school sent a team of teachers to these training sessions.
“We’ve worked at both of these institutes on the thorny issues around advisories,” Miller said. “We don’t have a hard date on when all of the advisories will be up and running.”
The district will offer teacher training on advisories beginning next month. In the meantime, the district is offering Hope’s advisory and Individual Learning Plan as models that other schools can adopt. “We recognize the Hope advisory as an exemplar for supporting Individual Learning Plans,” Miller said. “We have encouraged schools that didn’t grow their own advisories to adopt Hope’s.”
The Department of Education has been reviewing each district’s graduation requirements for the past 18 months. In January, the education commissioner’s office will consider whether to approve each district’s plans on a preliminary basis.
District says every student now assigned
Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Every public high school student has now been assigned to a school, and the two dozen students at Hope High School assigned to a media room have been fully scheduled.
Kim Rose, a spokeswoman for the Providence school district, said it has placed the 52 teenagers who spent part of their first two weeks of school at home, either because they enrolled after classes began, arrived from other school districts, or, in a few cases, moved to Providence from another country.
Meanwhile, the two dozen Hope High School students who were assigned to the library because of overcrowding have received full class schedules.
No one seems to agree on why the high school enrollments were larger than originally predicted. Supt. Donnie Evans said there was an unexpected rise in ninth-grade enrollments, but leaders from the Providence Teachers Union say that the district should have known that there would be too many students chasing too few seats.
The union says that school officials should have known that space would be at a premium because a proposed evening school for nontraditional high school students was scrapped after the district realized that it had a $6-million budget shortfall. Meanwhile, Central High School and the adjacent vocational high school are not operating at full capacity this year because of renovations.
Hope High School wound up with at least 100 more students than the contract permits. When the district realized that the high school was seriously overcrowded, it transferred 100 students to Mount Pleasant High School shortly before school began. But students kept showing up at Hope, forcing the school to put 25 students in the media room, which was overseen by a substitute teacher.
On Friday, Scott Sutherland, principal of Hope High School’s Arts Academy, said that every student will have a full schedule on Monday. Hope is divided into three, smaller learning academies: arts, technology and leadership.
“The problem has been solved with creative scheduling,” Sutherland said. “We looked at all three schools and moved students from one school to another, depending on space.”
Hope, for example, assigned an English-as-a-Second Language teacher to teach regular education and assigned an AP Algebra teacher, who had only a few students enrolled in his class, to teach Algebra II. The classroom crunch was further exacerbated because Hope lost two teachers this summer due to sweeping layoffs, another product of the budget crisis. Because each teacher is responsible for 130 students, Hope High School lost a total of 260 spots for students.
Deputy Supt. Tomas Hanna said on Friday that the district would look into what happened so it wouldn’t occur in the future.
No room in classes, so 77 Providence teens sat out
Posted Monday, September 24, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Fifty-two high school students spent at least part of their first two weeks of school at home and an additional 25 sat in a high school library while the School Department scrambled to find classrooms — and teachers — for the overflow.
By yesterday afternoon, 16 students were still waiting for an assignment, and Hope High School said that the 25 students in its media center would be back in class early next week.
Schools Supt. Donnie Evans says there is no way that the district could have foreseen the surge in ninth-grade enrollments, but union leaders and some high school principals say that the crisis could have been averted with adequate planning.
“There was no way to predict this,” Evans said Wednesday. “We plan for 10- to 15-percent more students than we expect. We know from past experience that 10 to 15 percent don’t show.”
But this year, they did. The district had anticipated a freshman class of 2,300 students, but 100 more students turned up at the beginning of the month, and Evans said that more students are arriving every day.
“As parents bring in the necessary information, we assign them to a school,” Evans said. “It’s normal for youngsters to come in and wait a few days.”
Deputy Supt. Tomas Hanna said it wasn’t fair to say that 75 students were sitting at home for two weeks waiting for an opening. Some students were no-shows and then turned up a week or so later. Others transferred into the district after classes began. Very few, however, were immigrants.
The Providence Teachers Union, which is involved in contract negotiations this year, says the matter was mishandled from the start.
“Yes, it’s outrageous,” said union president Steve Smith, “but the hand that Providence has been dealt is outrageous. When you don’t have adequate funding, bad decisions are made all the way around.”
The school district faced an unusual series of challenges this summer. When the legislature rejected 3-percent aid increases to public schools, Providence was left with a $6-million gap in its proposed school budget. That triggered dozens of last-minute layoffs that played havoc with principals’ ability to schedule students and teachers.
The budget crisis also forced the district to abandon plans for an evening school, which would have absorbed 200 to 300 high school students. Finally, major renovations at Central High School and the Hanley Career & Technical Center resulted in some of those students being moved to other high schools, adding to the classroom crunch.
“He did what he could do with what he had in front of him,” said state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, speaking of Evans. “In some ways, this is a joint problem. It would take a labor-management collaboration that says, ‘Let’s worry about the kids first.’ ”
Hope High School principals said their head of guidance alerted central administration in July that enrollments were exceeding class-size limits, but, according to the teachers union, the students kept coming.
Four days before school began, Scott Sutherland, the principal of Hope High School’s Arts Academy, had 196 students, 56 over capacity. On a Saturday night, the administration moved 60 students to Mount Pleasant High School.
“When you reach a certain point, you stop sending kids to a school,” said Paul Vorro, executive director of the teachers union. “That never happened at Hope. The counselors were told, ‘Take the kids anyway.’ ”
But Hanna said the administration asked every school how it was doing with enrollments and extra students before school began, and no one reported any problems.
Despite the last-minute assignments to Mount Pleasant, Hope wound up with 25 students who were missing one or more classes; they have spent the last two weeks in the library, supervised by a substitute teacher and two librarians.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Teny Gross, executive director of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Non-Violence, an organization that works to prevent gang violence in Providence. “These are our children. There is a need to hold people accountable.”
School Board members, however, appeared to be unfazed by the situation.
“Saying that we did a disservice to someone implies neglect,” said School Board President Mary McClure. “Could we have done something differently? To the best of my knowledge, no.”
“The idea that some kids have been disrupted is terrible,” said another member, Umberto Crenca. “Without a better understanding of the situation, it would be difficult to make a comparison. Maybe this happens every year.”
Meanwhile, Hanna has promised to look into how enrollments were handled to prevent the situation from happening again next fall.
“We’re dealing with the issue now,” he said yesterday. “We’re taking a look to see [whether something went wrong], and to avoid the potential for a mishap.”
Over-enrollment leaves some students waiting for classroom
Posted Thursday, September 20, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Fifty-two high school students are sitting at home, without an assigned school, and at least two dozen students are spending at least part of their day in the library at Hope High School while they wait for classrooms to become available.
Supt. Donnie Evans said the school district was slammed with a last-minute surge in high school enrollments, but union leaders say the problem could have been avoided with proper planning.
“There was no way to predict this,” Evans said yesterday. “We plan for 10 to 15 percent more students than we expect. We know from past experience that 10 to 15 percent don’t show. At the high school level, particularly with the ninth grade, there was a very large group this year and students are still coming.”
The district had expected 2,300 ninth-graders to enter high school this fall but an additional 100 freshmen turned up.
Evans said that the new students are being assigned to schools as soon as their parents submit the necessary paperwork, adding that it’s “normal for youngsters to come in and wait a few days.”
But it’s been two weeks since the first day of school.
The School Department did, in fact, have some inkling that schools might be overcrowded. When the extent of the budget crisis became clear in June, Evans scrapped his plan to open an evening school for non-traditional students. That school was supposed to accommodate between 200 and 300 students, and, according to the union, it was also supposed to alleviate overcrowding at the high school.
“As summer progressed,” Evans said, “then we did see that we needed to find some places.”
Paul Vorro, executive director of the Providence Teachers Union, said the School Department, faced with a $3.4-million budget shortfall, kept cutting teachers all summer long, but didn’t face the fact that the high school population was growing.
The end result, he said, was that Hope High School wound up with too many students and the overflow was sent to Mount Pleasant High School three days before teachers returned to school.
Evans gave the following account of what happened. More students were assigned to Hope High School than the contract permits. The agreement calls for 22 students per class at Hope High School instead of 26 students in a typical high school. That’s because Hope High School, which was nearly taken over by the state for poor performance three years ago, is under a special order signed by state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, which, among other things, limits class size.
According to Evans, when the department realized that it had over-enrolled students at Hope, it reassigned 100 students to Mount Pleasant High School a week before school started. The district also hired seven additional teachers to handle the influx of new students at Mount Pleasant.
“Mount Pleasant was taken care of before school started,” Evans said. “It did not disrupt their schedule. There were teachers there and students went to class.”
The union tells a slightly different story. According to Vorro, the guidance counselors at Hope were told to keep accepting students despite the fact that class limits were being exceeded. When the counselors raised the issue with the union, Vorro brought their complaints to the administration and 100 students were subsequently transferred to Mount Pleasant.
“When you reach a certain point,” Vorro said, “you stop sending kids to a school. That never happened at Hope. The counselors were told, ‘Take the kids anyway.’ ”
Evans said, however, that he spoke with one of Hope’s principals yesterday and that principal, Wayne Monatgue, assured him that the school was on top of the scheduling problem, which they hope to resolve by early next week.
“The students at Hope have schedules,” Evans said. “They are missing a class here or a class there, but they have schedules. They are being supervised in the media room and they are being taught.”
But union leaders questioned just how much students are learning in a room with one substitute teacher.
“What are they getting instruction in?” Vorro said. “Not all of them are in there because they’re missing the same class.”
Despite the overcrowding at Hope High School, Evans denied that there is a crisis at the high school level:
“Unfortunately, there are situations where people create manufactured crises. They may think there’s a problem but we’re on top of it.”
Special Education Class Size Complaint
Posted Tuesday, September 18, 2007
TO: Teachers of Special Needs Students
FROM: Steven F. Smith
DATE: September 17, 2007
On Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Allen P. Rubine heard arguments regarding the Providence Teachers Union complaint that Commissioner Peter McWalters exceeded his authority in approving the Providence School Board’s request to increase Special Education class size in Providence.
Judge Rubine has ordered written briefs to be filed no later than September 20, 2007 and has scheduled a formal hearing on September 28, 2007.
To support, with particulars, our contention that the class size increase is harmful to our students, I have scheduled three (3) meetings with our attorney so that he may hear directly from you.
Please make every effort to attend one or all of these meetings as your knowledge and input is most valuable.
I thank you in advance for your continued support and assistance.
DATES/TIMES:
Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 3:45 p.m.
Monday, September 24, 2007 at 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.
LOCATION:
Providence Teachers Union
99 Corliss Street
Providence, RI 02904
Teachers Speak Out at School Board Meeting
Posted Monday, September 17, 2007
TO: All Union Members
FROM: Steven F. Smith
DATE: September 17, 2007
Julie Latessa and several teachers, parents and former students from Veazie Street School appeared before the Providence School Board on Monday, September 10, 2007.
I have reproduced Julie’s statement so that you may be kept abreast of our efforts to inform the School Board and the public about teaching in Providence.
*** E N C L O S U R E ***
Julie Latessa
School Board Statement
September 10, 2007
President McClure, Superintendent Evans, and Members of the Providence School Board:
My name is Julie Latessa. I am a twenty-two year, veteran Providence teacher, as well as a graduate of the Providence Public School System. My years in teaching include both general and special education. I come before you provoked by a Journal article dated August 14, 2007. Superintendent Evans is quoted as follows, “holding all students to high expectations may be a tough sell for teachers who assume that urban students can’t achieve at the same levels as their middle-class peers.” Frankly, I am baffled.
I teach in a system where we teachers have high expectations for ourselves and our students.
For example:
* These high expectations are evident in teachers’ on-going pleas for the tools we require for high standards of teaching as well as curricula that are research-proven in urban education; and
* These high expectations are evident in teachers’ cries for purposeful testing that informs our instruction in a timely manner, that tests what our students arelearning, and that does not ake away from valuable teaching time; and
* These high expectations are evident in the fact that teachers work countless probono hours during the school year and summers to create Positive Behavior School-Wide Initiatives that promote safe learning environments. High expectations for behavior go hand-in-hand with academic success.
* I would like to introduce to you living proof of high Expectations, Mariama Darboe. Mariama came to Providence schools as English-as-a-second language learner from The Gambia in Africa. Because of Mariama’s high expectations for herself, her family’s high expectations, and teachers’ high expectations, Mariama is entering her freshman year at Brown University on a full scholarship, following in her sister Amie’s footsteps.
In the same Journal article, Dr. Evans talks of the district’s two over-arching goals in the past year, “making schools more welcoming to the public, and treating parents as partners - not obstacles to be overcome.”
I teach in a system where we teachers do not see our parents as obstacles, but as essential partners in our mission “to do what is best for our kids”.
For example:
*In many schools, teachers host back-to-school events to welcome students and family members;
* During the school year, teachers host parent breakfasts and Honors celebrations. School faculties hold Cultural Diversity nights, Community Health Fairs, Math, and Literacy nights;
* Teachers continue to request report cards that are reflective of students’ daily work in a language that informs and makes sense to parents;
* Teachers continue to appeal for more social services and support staff to assist families in need; and
* Teachers and parents stood together on the closing of West Broadway School and the proposed variance to increase the size of special education classrooms.
In conclusion, what I have come to understand is – administrators come and go. Curricula come and go. Appointed School Board members come and go as elected Mayors come and go. But there remains a constant – Teachers. We teachers have and continue to embrace the hard work. We welcome accountability for all. We believe in the work we do. We teachers believe in our students and our families. Perhaps, you should believe in us, too
Immediate cut in special-ed class size rejected
Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By Daniel Barbarisi
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court judge yesterday decided not to order an immediate reduction in special-education class size in Providence, dashing the hopes of the Providence Teachers Union.
But the judge did agree to review written arguments by both sides in the next few weeks, a victory for the union, which feared that the judge might argue that the issue belongs before the Board of Regents, not the courts.
Yesterday’s court action was the result of a lawsuit filed Friday by the teachers union, which argued that the August decision by the state Department of Education to allow Providence to increase special-education class sizes from 10 to 12 was damaging to the city’s students.
The School Department sought the size increase to close a $3.2-million budget deficit. The change allowed the district to move 22 teachers into other areas.
The variance issued by state Commissioner of Education Peter McWalters was justified under the progressive intervention section of state law, which authorizes the state to make changes to a district, or a school, if it doesn’t improve student performance enough from year to year as judged by the department.
The state made the variance applicable immediately, but said that the district had to meet eight conditions in order to keep it active, some by October, some by December. Class sizes increased across the district with the start of school last week.
Friday, the union, in conjunction with the families of two special-education students, filed suit against the School Department, the School Board, and the state. They charge that the change will harm Providence students, and deprive teachers of employment benefits and opportunities, and that the commissioner overstepped his authority when he made the decision.
Yesterday, the union asked for an immediate, emergency return to the 10-student class-size limit while the case works its way through the court system.
Yesterday, Judge Allen P. Rubine did not grant that request, but during a half-hour meeting in his chambers with lawyers from both sides, asked for legal briefs by Sept. 20, and response briefs by Sept. 26.
Marc Gursky, attorney for the union, said that the briefs are to be primarily on “Whether the commissioner had the authority to, on his own, waive the requirements of the special-education regulations.”
The next court appearance in front of Judge Rubine is scheduled for Sept. 28.
Both sides said they were pleased with the judge’s actions so far.
“We’re very happy with the results today,” said union President Steven F. Smith. “We have the opportunity to make our argument and argue for parents, teachers, and kids.”
In the meantime, the School Department gets to keep 12 students per classroom.
“We’re rolling ahead with our school improvement agenda,” said Forrest Avila, legal counsel for the Department of Education.
Contract Mediation
Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2007
TO: All Union Members
FROM: Steven F. Smith
DATE: September 10, 2007
The Rhode Island Department of Labor has honored our request that a mediator be assigned to assist in our contract negotiations.
Professor Matthew M. Bodah, Ph.d of the University of Rhode Island has accepted the appointment and has scheduled the first session for Thursday, September 13, 2007.
Be assured that I will keep you informed as we now move into this next phase of negotiations.
Official Special Education Complaint
Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007
TO: All Union Members
FROM: Steven F. Smith
DATE: September 7, 2007
The enclosed Media Advisory was released today.
Read the entire complaint at www.proteun.org click on the news and updates link.
*** E N C L O S U R E ****
MEDIA ADVISORY
TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT AND
PARENTS OF SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS
FILE COMPLAINT
PROVIDENCE, SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 - Steven F. Smith, President of the Providence Teachers Union and three (3) parents of Special Needs students have filed a complaint in Rhode Island Superior Court alleging that Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Peter McWalters, acted in excess of his authority by failing to deny the request by the Providence School Board for a “variance” to increase Special Education class size; by failing to ensure that the Providence School Board utilize the Caruolo Act to resolve financial disputes and by failing to carry-out Rhode Island Regents policies and programs. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.
Named in the complaint as defendants are Donnie Evans, in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Providence School Department, Mary McClure, in her official capacity as President of the Providence School Board, and Peter McWalters, in his official capacity as Commissioner for the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.
For more information contact Steven F. Smith at (401) 421-4014.
Union sues city, state over special-education waiver
Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007
By Daniel Barbarisi
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence Teachers Union and the families of two Providence special-needs students have sued the state and the city for allowing Providence to increase the size of special-education classes, arguing that it hurts students to be in the larger classes.
They are seeking to have the class sizes immediately returned to 10 students, from the 12-student maximum that has been in place for the first week of school.
A request for an emergency injunction reducing the class size is to be heard this morning in Superior Court before Judge Netti C. Vogel.
Faced with a $3.2-million budget gap, the School Department this summer asked the state for a variance allowing Providence to expand special-education class sizes from 10 to 15. That request was later trimmed to a class size of 12, and the state accepted.
“It’s a very unusual thing” for the state to grant such a variance, said Deputy Commissioner of Education David V. Abbott.
Commissioner Peter McWalters justified his action under the progressive intervention section of state law, which authorizes the state to make changes to a district, or a school, if it doesn’t improve student performance enough from year to year, as judged by the department.
“It is my firm belief that this change in staffing patterns is necessary for the district to achieve its goals of continuing to improve its educational offerings for all students in light of diminished resources,” McWalters wrote in an Aug. 24 letter approving the variance.
The state made the variance applicable immediately, but said that the district had to meet eight conditions in order to keep it active, some by October, some by December.
These included improved public outreach, better monitoring of special-education instruction, and conducting reviews of the physical space allotted for special-education classes and the teaching credentials of special-education teachers.
“What we basically said is that we’ll grant this variance if you show us how you’ve improved the instruction for those kids in those eight huge ways,” Abbott said.
The lawsuit names the Providence School Department, the Providence School Board, and McWalters, in his capacity as Commissioner for the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.
The lawsuit states that teachers will be unable to provide appropriate services with a 20 percent increase in class size.
It claims that Providence teachers will “suffer irreparable harm in the form of lost employment benefits and opportunities.”
The lawsuit also argues that because the problem was fiscal in nature, the proper recourse was for the School Department to sue the city for more money under the Caruolo Act.
It also contends that McWalters exceeded his authority when he granted the variance, because he did not have the power to waive a Board of Regents’ regulation.
In addition, Steven E. Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union, said that the eight conditions the order imposed should have been met before McWalters allowed Providence to increase class sizes.
“They should be in place before the variance is granted,” Smith said.
Smith said he also worried about the precedent McWalters’ approval sets.
“It gives him unprecedented authority to raise class sizes,” Smith said.
Providence Supt. Donnie Evans, who is named in the suit, declined to comment last night.
Twenty-two special-education teachers are affected by the class-size increase. Some have been placed in the permanent substitute pool, which means they are guaranteed work every day but not at the same school. The rest are filling vacancies in other schools.
Julie Latessa, a special-education teacher at the Veazie Street School, said that the difference in the class size is extremely important, because special-needs students require a great deal of personal attention and customized teaching.
“You have a range of abilities. You could have a student who’s functioning on a kindergarten level, you could have a student who’s functioning on a grade three level. You’re trying desperately to get these kids help,” Latessa said.
dbarbari@projo.com
New home for West Broadway pupils
Posted Thursday, September 6, 2007
By Daniel Barbarisi
Journal Staff Writer
First-grade English-as-Second Language students Christian Bustos and Elvis Santos compare their new books.
PROVIDENCE — Principal Frank Piccirilli’s familiar face stood out like a beacon in the lobby of Del Sesto High School yesterday, and students from the West Broadway Elementary School zeroed in on him right away.
“Mr. Piccirilli?” Manuel Gomez, 8, tapped on his arm. “I’m in third grade, and I have to find Mrs. Carbone’s class.”
But just because Piccirilli was recognizable, didn’t mean he had all the answers.
“Mrs. Carbone?” Piccirilli replied. “I have no idea where she is, but I’m going to find her with you.”
Piccirilli, Gomez and Gomez’ mother bounded up the stairs to the second floor of Del Sesto High School, which is serving as the temporary home for students from West Broadway for this school year.
West Broadway, on Federal Hill, shut its doors for the last time in June, after the School Department decided it must be closed because of fire-code violations. Parents were outraged, and the department agreed that the students, staff and faculty of West Broadway could move en masse to another building, and carve out a new West Broadway inside.
Yesterday, on the first day of school in Providence, the students of West Broadway finally came face to face their new home at Del Sesto, which they share with students from Springfield Middle School. The two schools stand next to Anthony Carnevale Elementary School on Springfield Street.
It’s a patchwork creation: a sign on the door pointed Springfield students to the left; West Broadway to the right.
When Piccirilli and Manuel Gomez found Mrs. Carbone’s class in Room 222, it was clear that not everyone had arrived yet. With students from both West Broadway and Carnevale elementary schools arriving at the same time on the same slender, dead-end street, traffic in the area was nightmarish; many students and parents were delayed for close to an hour.
Gina Carbone, who had spent 11 years at West Broadway, knew most of the students trickling into her third grade class from their time together on Federal Hill, and most of them knew one another. But there were a few newcomers, and she knew that they could all use a little reassurance — especially now that they were in a building with middle school students five years older.
“I’m going to give you all a tour of the building, so don’t get nervous,” she told her new class.
“I know some of you are worried that some of the big kids are going to touch you, but they won’t. If we see a big kid, it’s OK. Say hello, we all get along.”
Springfield Middle School Principal Dinah Larbi said that she had spoken with the middle school students and encouraged them to set a good example for the younger children.
“We talked about being good role models,” Larbi said.
There are more than 400 middle school students and about 325 from West Broadway. Last year the elementary school had more than 400.
The demise of West Broadway enraged some parents, and a third of them opted to leave West Broadway and move their children to other, closer schools near Federal Hill, Piccirilli said.
But once the students in Mrs. Carbone’s class got a glimpse of their new surroundings — Del Sesto is five years old, compared with the 100-year-old West Broadway building — some seemed thrilled with the move.
“How did that TV get up there?” asked Jimmy Tann, pointing at a ceiling mounted television with a VCR.
“Oh, you’re not used to all this stuff,” laughed Mrs. Carbone. “We were in a building that was 100 years old.”
West Broadway’s plight also unified parents in an often heated but unsuccessful battle to save the school.
Osiris Harrell, one of the parents who led the charge to save West Broadway, brought his children to their new school yesterday — and he was happy with what he saw.
“I’m pleased. I like the environment — it’s such a good environment. I’m very pleasantly surprised,” Harrell said.
Piccirilli said that aside from the traffic, the first day went smoothly.
Of course, for some, it doesn’t matter what building it’s in: the first day is scary.
Brandon Morales was starting his first day of kindergarten at the new West Broadway, and tears streamed down his cheeks as he tried to say goodbye to mom, Gwendolyn Marrero.
“My son’s crying, he’s all nervous,” Marrero said as she watched Brandon walk away to his classroom.
Was there anything she could say to reassure him?
“Nothing. I just had to let him go,” she said.
Students – and parents – expected to toe the line at Adelaide
Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — When parents and students walk into the new Adelaide High School for the first time tomorrow, they will be greeted by a principal who has already spelled out what he expects from every member of the Adelaide community.
Principal Wobberson “Robbie” Torchon is determined to open the high school off Reservoir Avenue with all of his ducks in order. Everyone — students, teachers, parents and administrators — will sign a school compact that spells out their duties and commitments:
“As a student, I will read for at least 30 minutes five days a week. Know and follow the school rules. Ask for help when I need it” and so forth.
“As a parent, I will talk to my child regularly about the value of education. Make sure my child reads every day. Make every effort to attend school events. Monitor my child’s progress in school.
“As a teacher, I will communicate high expectations to every student. Motivate my students to learn. Involve students in classes that are interesting and challenging,” and so on.
“As an administrator, I will support a safe, caring and orderly environment. Ensure that the school mission, vision and classroom practice emphasize academic achievement. Ensure equity within the school.”
At an open house last week, Torchon explained how the 600-student high school will work.
Every Friday, students will be released at 1:50 p.m. so the entire faculty and staff can spend time planning professional development, new graduation requirements and other elements of school culture.
Students will meet daily for 25 to 30 minutes in a class advisory to foster close ties between at least one adult and a small group of students. By breaking a large high school into smaller groups that meet regularly, it is hoped, students are less likely to fall between the cracks and ultimately drop out of school.
Adelaide, along with E{+3}, a small high school in the North End, will pilot a report card that replaces the typical letter grade with a zero to 4 grading system that is more specific and corresponds to the way that students are graded on the New England Common Assessment Placement, the new statewide tests.
Students can earn a zero, which shows no evidence of achievement, to a 4, which shows the student is performing above standard. In addition, the report card measures specific skills, not simply overall performance in a subject like English or math. Under English language arts, each student will be graded in use of grammar, reading comprehension, analysis and interpretation and writing effectiveness.
Because it matches with NECAP, the new grading system will allow teachers to determine if there is a gap between a student’s score on a particular state test and his score on that same subject in class.
“We will be able to analyze the gaps,” Torchon said. Teachers, he said, will be able to determine if what they are teaching in class covers the same material as the information tested by the NECAP.
The report card will also track how often a child misses class because that information will help teachers identify why a student is doing poorly, for instance, in math or science. There is even a section that records a student’s attendance in advisory and portfolio class. (Starting this year, Providence seniors will be required to keep a portfolio of their best work to fulfill new state graduation requirements.)
Teachers will also be asked to grade students based on a series of grade-span expectations developed by the state: Can the student write with proficiency? Can he or she identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary? Can the student analyze a literary text?
“We will be able to identify with laser precision what a child knows and doesn’t know,” Torchon said. “This will allow us to go straight to what a student needs.”
During parent-teacher conferences, teachers will discuss the child’s grade book. In fact, every communication between the high school and the parent will underscore the school’s academic goals and mission. Every piece of correspondence, for example, will list the high school’s three overarching goals: at least 50 percent of 11th-graders will score proficient on the NECAP; at least 75 percent of all students will score proficient on the SAT 10; and at least 75 percent of all students will pass their classes.
Torchon said these goals represent a starting point. As the school develops, the benchmarks will be raised.
“Expectations must be clearly articulated by leadership,” he said. “Our goal is to communicate our mission as clearly and often as possible. It’s right in your face.”
The school schedule allows each team of teachers to meet regularly because they share the same free period, a luxury in many district schools.
Adelaide High School will be divided into six clusters or teams, organized around the major subjects: math, English, science and social studies. The hope is that teachers, if given time to plan together, will develop interdisciplinary projects or organize a field trip together.
As Torchon said, “We want to extend the classroom wall into the community.”
Talks continue; teachers to return
Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence Teachers Union has signed a memorandum of agreement that says that members will return to work today under the conditions of the previous contract, which expired Friday.
Contract negotiations resumed last week after a summer-long hiatus and School Board President Mary McClure characterized the talks as positive and extremely professional. The union and the city met three times last week and, on Friday, both parties said that they planned to negotiate over the holiday weekend.
“It’s been professional,” said union president Steven F. Smith. “We are focused on the substantive issues and we’ve made slow progress. Both parties realize the tremendous challenges facing the district and the need to get a contact that will move us forward.”
Smith said he will provide teachers with an update on negotiations early this morning, during a meeting at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston. Teachers will then report to work as scheduled. Students return tomorrow.
Although contract talks began last summer, both sides weren’t able to move forward on major issues until the city and Supt. Donnie Evans figured out how to resolve a $6-million budget shortfall created when the General Assembly rejected 3 percent aid increases to cities and towns. Negotiations began again in earnest last week after Peter McWalters, state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, ruled that Providence could increase the size of its special-education classes, a move that will save the district $3.4 million and help close its budget deficit.
“The state budget has had a tremendous impact on the district,” Smith said. “Even without the 3 percent aid increase, the city was putting forward a budget that didn’t include a pay raise. Those actions taken by the legislature have had a much more serious effect on the poorer districts. They are affected first and the most severely.”
Smith, as a state representative from Providence, voted against the leadership this spring when he supported Governor Carcieri’s request for the 3 percent aid increase.
Meanwhile, the union president is dealing with a membership that is frustrated and demoralized by the latest round of cuts and consolidations that have bumped roughly 100 full-time teachers into the long-term substitute pool, which means that teachers move from classroom to classroom or school to school, wherever vacancies exist.
Smith said teachers will return to work under provisions of the old contract. “We will operate under the existing agreement until we reach a new one,” he said. “We’ve met with the building delegates and they seem to be in agreement with that. I’m hoping we can get together and reach an agreement. We’re not there yet.”
That said, Smith added the following caveat: “You are not going to get an agreement with no raises over three years.”
The district is also about to renew negotiations with another union, Local 1033, which represents 1,100 school employees, including teacher assistants, bus monitors, crossing guards, payroll managers and others. Those contracts expired on June 30.
“We’re prepared to make some sacrifices,” said Donald S. Iannazzi, the union’s business manager. But he said the union’s willingness to do so depends on the district’s commitment to make similar sacrifices in the area of administrative staff. “If we forego wage increases, we expect everyone else to do likewise.”
Negotiations began last spring but dropped off while the city and the district struggled to solve the budget issues. Iannazzi said no date for negotiations has been set, but expects talks to resume after school begins. The district, he said, has already shown good faith by restoring most of the 71 positions that were originally on the chopping board.
“We all recognize that this is a tough time,” Iannazzi said. “We’re willing to do our part.”
Orientation Meeting
Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Dear Colleague:
Please accept my sincere appreciation for the support and assistance you provided me this morning at our informational meeting at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.
Rhodes on the Pawtuxet officials placed the attendee count at between 1,400 and 1,500.
If you were unable to attend and wish to receive an update of this morning’s proceedings, please speak with your building delegate or call the Union office to speak with your field representative.
As stated at our meeting, we will now move to mediation which is the next level of collective bargaining according to Rhode Island law; keeping in mind that our 2004-2007 contract remains in full force and effect until a successor agreement is approved by the Board, Membership and ratified by the city council.
Enclosed is a copy of our request for the appointment of a mediator.
Again, thank you for your support and be assured that I will continue to keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Steven F. Smith
President
* E N C L O S U R E *
September 4, 2007
Adelita S. Orefice, Director
RI Department of Labor & Training
Center General Complex
1511 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
RE: PROVIDENCE TEACHERS UNION
AFT LOCAL #958, AFL-CIO
Dear Director Orefice:
Please be advised that the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Providence Teachers Union AFT Local #958, AFL-CIO and the School Board of the City of Providence has expired, effective August 31, 2007. Despite attempts at settlement negotiations, there are unresolved issues remaining.
On behalf of the Providence Teachers Union I hereby request that the matter be submitted to compulsory mediation pursuant to R.I. General Law §28-9.3-9(c).
Very Truly Yours,
Steven F. Smith
President
Providence Teachers Union
AFT Local #958, AFL-CIO
cc. Dr. Donnie Evans, Superintendent
John Simmons, Chief of Administration
Orientation Meeting
Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Dear Colleague:
Please accept my sincere appreciation for the support and assistance you provided me this morning at our informational meeting at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.
Rhodes on the Pawtuxet officials placed the attendee count at between 1,400 and 1,500.
If you were unable to attend and wish to receive an update of this morning’s proceedings, please speak with your building delegate or call the Union office to speak with your field representative.
As stated at our meeting, we will now move to mediation which is the next level of collective bargaining according to Rhode Island law; keeping in mind that our 2004-2007 contract remains in full force and effect until a successor agreement is approved by the Board, Membership and ratified by the city council.
Enclosed is a copy of our request for the appointment of a mediator.
Again, thank you for your support and be assured that I will continue to keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Steven F. Smith
President
September 4, 2007
Adelita S. Orefice, Director
RI Department of Labor & Training
Center General Complex
1511 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
RE: PROVIDENCE TEACHERS UNION
AFT LOCAL #958, AFL-CIO
Dear Director Orefice:
Please be advised that the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Providence Teachers Union AFT Local #958, AFL-CIO and the School Board of the City of Providence has expired, effective August 31, 2007. Despite attempts at settlement negotiations, there are unresolved issues remaining.
On behalf of the Providence Teachers Union I hereby request that the matter be submitted to compulsory mediation pursuant to R.I. General Law §28-9.3-9(c).
Very Truly Yours,
Steven F. Smith
President
Providence Teachers Union
AFT Local #958, AFL-CIO
cc. Dr. Donnie Evans, Superintendent
John Simmons, Chief of Administration
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