PPSD School Board School Closure Hearings Start Tomorrow

Starting tomorrow and running through April 25, the Providence School Board will be holding hearings on the five schools that the district has proposed to close. Tomorrow, the Board will be holding the hearing for Asa Messer Elementary and Asa Messer Annex at 6:00pm at John Hope Settlement House, 7 Thomas P. Whitten Way (off Westminster Street).

Click to the right for the PPSD hearings schedule, which is:

• Hearing on Windmill Street Elementary, 6:00pm, March 30, at Windmill Street Elementary, 110 Paul Street
• Hearing on Flynn Elementary, April 6, 6:00pm,  at Davey Lopes Recreation Center, 227 Dudley Street
• Hearing on Bridgham Middle School, April 11, 6:00pm, at Bridgham Middle School, 1655 Westminster Street
• Hearing on West Broadway Elementary at DelSesto, 6:00pm, April 13, at DelSesto Middle School, 152 Springfield Street

At 6:30pm on Monday, April 25, the School Board will vote on all of the proposed closures.

Finally, here in PDF form is the information that the district shared at last week's community forums on school closures. It's got some useful graphic info on the various schools proposed for closure depicted in terms neighborhood students, and other details that are worth some geek-out time no matter where you may stand on the wisdom or folly of the proposed school closures.

Also - a plea from your dedicated Providence Schools blogger: I am unlikely to be able to attend the hearings for Messer and Windmill this week. If anyone reading this is willing to write up some thoughts that I can publish here, with credit to you, of course, or anonymously, if that's the way you roll, please let me know. I'd really love to share some first-hand knowledge of what happened. Thanks!