PAWTUCKET, R.I. — In the fall of 2020, the Pawtucket School Committee made a decision. Unlike most Rhode Island public schools, Pawtucket students would remain fully remote rather than returning to classrooms as the pandemic raged on.
The decision was applauded by the teachers union, but excoriated by then-Governor Gina Raimondo, who chastised the elected school committee on stage at her daily coronavirus briefing.
“The children will suffer,” Raimondo warned at the time.
The decision is one of a cascading set of moves by the Pawtucket School Committee that has led to a new discussion about scrapping the elected school committee and moving to a board appointed by the mayor, where voters would no longer elect the people making decisions about the city schools.
The talks about moving to an appointed school board have begun quietly in the Pawtucket Charter Review Commission, which is considering whether to recommend a ballot question during the special election for the First Congressional District this November. (Charter changes must be approved by voters.)
City officials have not publicized that they’re considering the matter. A meeting to discuss what an appointed school committee would look like is set for Tuesday night, but the agenda for the Charter Review Commission only says “School Committee,” and does not disclose that the discussion is about potentially switching to an appointed board.
“We’ve been asked by a couple of community members to take on the debate to discuss an appointed school committee,” said Maribel Echeverry McLaughlin, the chair of the Charter Review Commission. “We’ve been having debates, discussions. What would that look like if it were to ever go forward? Is it something that Pawtucket needs?”
Echeverry McLaughlin said Mayor Donald Grebien has not shared an opinion with her about moving to an appointed school committee, which would likely involve the mayor selecting the members who would then be confirmed by the Pawtucket City Council.
Grebien declined to speak to the Globe about potentially moving to an appointed school committee. But his Director of Administration Dylan Zelazo said the community is noticing the “ineptitude” of the school committee, citing a series of “high-profile missteps” including the recent vote to reject the new teachers contract and send it back to negotiations. (It was later approved.)
“I think they’re just a train wreck,” Zelazo said.
In a statement, Grebien’s spokesperson Grace Voll said constituents have raised concerns about the existing school committee and “the mayor is listening to those concerns and continues to encourage folks to reach out so he can carefully formulate his opinion.”
She added that the mayor has the “utmost faith” in the charter commission. (The mayor appoints the commission members.)
Echeverry McLaughlin told the Globe she has not yet taken a stance on getting rid of the elected school committee, though she opined during a meeting last week that the current committee has “ineffective leadership,” according to a video posted online by the Coalition Radio Network.
She said the idea of moving to an appointed committee started with a letter from John Baxter, a former school committee chairman.
In a copy of the letter provided by the city, Baxter said he’s watched the school committee “execute decisions that were independent of logic and responsibility,” primarily citing the decision not to return to school in person in 2020.
“I have little doubt this decision has contributed to our district’s falling test scores and graduation rates, especially when compared to our neighboring districts,” Baxter said.
He also criticized the school committee’s recent decision to appoint a superintendent who was not one of the finalists put forward by a search committee, and the decision to vote down the teachers contract.
“The thought of leaving this Committee with the responsibility of overseeing both the construction of a new Baldwin Elementary School and a unified high school, with its combined cost of over $400 million is, at best, unsettling,” Baxter wrote.
In a subsequent email to the commission, former school committee candidate Tyler McFeeters shared a similar opinion, claiming the current elected members are “not capable of acting in the best interest of the people they represent.”
School committee members who spoke to the Globe have a different view of things.
“I think it’s concerning in a city of almost 80,000 people that two people can trigger this kind of material change to the city charter,” said Gerard “Jay” Charbonneau, a committee member who used to be the chairman.
Charbonneau, who has clashed with Grebien in the past, told the Globe he believes the discussion about moving to an appointed board is “retaliation” for the school committee’s decision not to relinquish funds to the city.
He said Grebien’s office asked the school committee to give $1 million to the city for debt service in this year’s budget, which the committee declined to do at a special meeting in May.
Charbonneau noted the school committee has previously transferred surplus funds back to the city in recent years, including savings during the pandemic realized by not needing school buses.
“Here comes the political retribution,” Charbonneau said.
Zelazo said after that request was shot down in May, the city does not have a current request before the school committee for any funds.
“I think the school committee members love conspiracy theories,” Zelazo said.
Charbonneau defended the decision to keep schools closed in 2020, when he was chair of the school committee, pointing to inspections that found the school buildings were not equipped for proper air flow and social distancing. (Students ultimately returned to the buildings in March 2021.)
He also criticized the charter commission for not including the school committee discussion on the agenda for its two meetings last week.
Echeverry McLaughlin said Tuesday night’s meeting will be to discuss what a fully-appointed school committee would look like, but no vote is expected. She said there is no written proposal drafted yet, and also did not commit to releasing the written proposal publicly before a future vote.
The discussion includes how many members would be on the committee, the length of the terms, and whether it would be fully appointed or hybrid.
The vast majority of Rhode Island municipalities have elected school committees. Only Providence and Central Falls have appointed committees, though Providence voters last year approved a charter change to create a half-elected, half-appointed school board, which will take effect next year.
“At the end of the day, it’s still on the voters,” Echeverry McLaughlin said of Pawtucket’s potential change. “Ultimately if it goes on the ballot and the voter wants the status quo, they can vote no.”
The charter commission’s recommendation will first have to go to the Pawtucket City Council, which is required to vote to put a matter on the ballot. The deadline for the council to do so for the November election is Sept. 18, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
City Council President Terrence Mercer told the Globe he would need to see the commission’s recommendation before weighing in on the matter, but he did not oppose the idea of moving to an appointed school board.
“I would likely lean toward asking the voters if they want to switch paths,” Mercer said.
The timing of the potential ballot question is of concern to John Marion, the executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island.
“Voter turnout in special elections and off-year elections is typically much lower,” Marion said. “The more voters who have a chance to weigh in on an important question like this, the better.”
He also noted that meeting agendas need to “clearly state what business the public body is going to take up.”
Tuesday night’s charter commission meeting is at 7 p.m. at Pawtucket City Hall. Echeverry McLaughlin said if a vote takes place on an appointed school board, it would happen later in the month.
“The commission is taking it pretty seriously,” she said. “We are giving it the attention it deserves.”
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.