One of the findings in last week’s SchoolWorks’ report on the state takeover of Providence schools was that the school board “does not consistently act as a single cohesive body.”
Well, there’s at least one thing the board strongly agrees on.
The board voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the state end this district’s turnaround status and begin planning for a return to local control at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
“The turnaround was initiated because the status quo was failing our students,” School Board President Erlin Rogel said in a statement. “We were promised accountability and meaningful change. While some progress has been achieved, the reality is that our school system still underserves a vast majority of our students. The intervention has operated in a silo and has become impossible to evaluate due to a lack of checks and balances.”
What it means: Nothing, really.
While the board is sending a strong message that it believes the takeover should come to an end, the ultimate decision is up to Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. She is expected to make her recommendation to extend, restructure, or end the takeover at a State Council on Elementary and Secondary Education meeting next week.
Infante-Green has said that she is still mulling over her recommendation, but she has been clear that she believes there is still more work to do when it comes to the takeover. She isn’t facing immense pressure from Governor Dan McKee or Providence Mayor Brett Smiley to immediately return control of the district, so it appears unlikely that she’ll be moved by the school board’s recommendation.
Then again, the board took a measured approach by asking for the transition to occur after this upcoming school year. It would give a full school year for planning, especially when it comes to the school budget.
Remember: No matter what Infante-Green decides, the current version of the school board won’t exist by January.
Providence is moving from a fully mayoral-appointed board to a partially elected board with five races set for the November election. Smiley plans to appoint the five other members in late January, and those 10 board members will be the ones who ultimately help the district transition back to local control.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.