TONIGHT! Public meeting on the future use of Asa Messer Elementary School building

Sorry for the last minute share: in the spirit of better late than never, here's a heads-up about a public meeting on future use of the former Asa Messer school building happening TONIGHT at the Asa Messer School Building located at 158 Messer Street, Providence from 6:00-7:30 PM.

More info here: http://cityof.providenceri.com/mayor/city-holds-first-community-forum-on-the-re-use-of

I have another meeting that conflicts but will try to stop by toward the end - would love a report from anyone who can make it for the whole thing.

Message from Kathy Crain, PPSD Board President - school shut-down volunteer help needed today/tomorrow

This message is from Kathy Crain, Providence Public Schools Board President, asking for volunteer assistance today and tomorrow with the shut-down of several schools that won't be open next year. Please respond to Kathy at kathleen.crain@ppsd.org if you can lend a hand.

Dear Friends/Supporters of Providence Public Schools,

As you know, many schools have undergone major changes this summer, including the closure and transfer of schools.  Our financial condition prohibits us from hiring outside assistance to catalogue and move supplies and other materials in preparation for next year.  Accordingly, we are asking for volunteers this Monday and Tuesday, June 27th and 28th to help out at the following schools:

BRIDGHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL:     10-20 volunteers
WEST BROADWAY AT DELSESTO:   10-20 volunteers
CARL LAURO:     10-20 volunteers

If you are available to volunteer, please email me back as soon as possible!  Please feel free to pass this email along to anyone that may be willing to help out.  Any all donations of time and labor are greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting the Providence Public Schools, and most importantly, our students, in a true time of need.

Best,

Kathy Crain

Providence Public Schools - one hour delay today, June 9, 2011

PPSD has a one hour delay today, June 9, 2011.

I missed the Parent Link cal that came in at 6:13 (must remember to return the cordless phone to its charger in my bedroom - it always wanders off) that conveyed the news that PPSD has a one hour delay due to damage from last night's storm, which until I learned it caused damage that had this sort of impact I thought was awesomely mesmerizing. Found out when I went to PPSD's website to check a fact for another blog post (yay Central High School girl's softball!) and saw the one hour delay news on the home page.

Update: Fortes Elementary, Lima Elementary, Fortes/Lima Annex and Webster Elementary School are all closed today due to last night's storm damage.

News and no news about PPSD student assignments.

Sorry that it's been quiet around here for the past couple of days. Blogger, the host of this site, was being weird. But now all seems to be better for now.

This is old-ish news now, from Wednesday's ProJo: "Providence offers plan for schools' displaced students," which likely to be:

Asa Messer Elementary School: All students and staff will be transferred to Bridgham Middle School, which will become an elementary school.

West Broadway Elementary School: Less than a third (about 111) are going to Bridgham, and less than a third (about 101) are going to Carnevale Elementary School. The rest of the children -- 136 students -- will be sent to Fortes/Lima, West and other schools.

Windmill Elementary School: About 98 children are going to King Elementary School; about 62 are going to Veazie Elementary School; about 61 are going to Kennedy; about 51 are going to Carnevale and about 34 are going to the Fortes/Lima Elementary School complex.

Flynn Elementary School: About 110 are going to Lauro Elementary School; about 119 are going to Fortes/Lima; about 77 are going to other schools; about 32 are going to Carnevale; about 30 are going to West and about 11 are going to Bailey Elementary School.

Bridgham Middle School: About 183 are going to Del Sesto Middle School, about 71 to Bishop Middle School, about 49 are going to Greene, and about 13 are going to Hopkins Middle School.

Approximately 62 special education students will be assigned their new schools at a later date, after consultations with parents.

As far as I am aware, this news is just about the numbers. Parents of students from schools that will be closed have not yet received notification about the schools to which their kids have been assigned. I know I can speak for the Parent Teacher Organization at MLK Elementary to say that we welcome incoming students from Windmill with open arms, and we're looking forward to meeting the new families who will bring their energy and dedication to their kids' success in school to MLK. We want to do all we can to make MLK accessible to incoming families, and as soon as we are able to know which families will be sending their kids to MLK, we'll have an open house, invite new families from Windmill to our year-end PTO meetings, and do anything else that we can to support good transitions for these incoming students.

It's worth noting, too that parents of any incoming middle schoolers who submitted school choice forms in December 2010 as part of the regular process have not yet found out our kids' middle school assignments, nor have those of us with incoming kindergarten or first graders registered during March and April - though per regular PPSD practice (not good practice, but as it has happened at least since 2005), we would not yet have heard about elementary school placements.

I called PPSD registration on Monday to inquire about when we will hear about middle school placements and learned that letters should be send out next week or early the week after. In the meantime, I suggest calling the student registration office at (401) 456-9297 to try to get someone on the phone to share the info that they have about the status of your kids' registrations. In fact, I just tried to do so; no one picked up (lunchtime? Friday? who can say why?) and I was left to attempt to reach staff members there by trying their extensions (on this page - handy to have it in front of you before you call). I tried two staffers whose voice mailboxes were full, left a message for a third asking for the registration status for my incoming middle schooler and incoming kindergartener.

Providence School Board has voted to close/reorganize schools

I am not at the school board meeting but according to reports from those who are: the Providence School Board has voted to close all schools per city's recommendations. Plenty more will be said about this decision and its implications - for now, all I want to do is share the news. Update: ProJo report here.

Wait, that's not quite all. I also want to say that I am deeply angry that saving our city from financial peril requires reducing the quality of our city's schools and devaluing their teachers. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and stand with many others working to find the good in our situation, which will mean gathering the energy and anger of our city's parents, students, and educators and finding ways to improve our schools in the years and decades to come. We must do this. The alternative is throwing up our hands and turning our backs to our young people, and we cannot do that. I won't do it and I am proud to stand with hundreds and thousands of others who also refuse to give up on our ability as a society to prepare our young people for the challenges in their lives. The challenges we face are much bigger than the immediate budget crisis and the regrettable choice that the school board had to make.

Our real goal: to create and sustain schools that support all kids in all neighborhoods to use their minds well as they gain the skills they need to succeed in life as citizens, community and family members, and productive workers and leaders. I look forward to working with adults and young people across the city to identify the specific steps that will move us to that goal. We can and must do this because the alternative is unconscionable.

Strike that, reverse it. Back to: School Board vote on school closures delayed.

There's no sensible way to amend yesterday's post to make this clear: the announced Thursday 4/28 School Board school closure vote reschedule is no longer announceable as the School Board hasn't yet voted to reschedule on that date. Tonight's school board meeting is still happening, 6:30pm at PCTA, with a presentation about the school closings and, I believe, a decision about when the rescheduled school closing vote will take place.

We're back to Friday's news that the school closure vote date has been postponed. Unmark your calendars accordingly until such time that Facebook, semaphore, telegraph, or some other source shares that the School Board has rescheduled the vote.

Next week: still busy, but no school board vote on closures.

Update to yesterday's post on next week's hot and heavy PPSD action: the School Board has delayed its vote scheduled for Monday, April 25 on closing schools. The posted school board agenda for that evening made that evident and School Board President Kathleen Crain just confirmed it on Facebook with this post:

Providence residents: The School Board has delayed the vote on School Closures so that we may review the information and data related to each school and make an informed decision. We will update you on the date of the vote shortly.

Good to have the delay confirmed, and I am gratified that the School Board is taking the time it needs to come to its best decision but what now? The city's budget needs to be established ASAP, and teachers need clarity about the status of their jobs. Families need clarity about their school assignments--all families, both those with students in schools proposed for closure or repurpose and those with students entering kindergarten, first or sixth grades citywide, assignments that the city is delaying until it can incorporate the students in those grades affected by school closures.

So, more questions. That said, late yesterday, PPSD share some answers by releasing its responses to a long list of questions posed by WSPEC, the City Council, and the School Board about the proposed closures that will be voted on....at some undetermined future moment. Lots to discuss in the responses, will do in the next post. Click here for that document, in PDF form.

P.S.: Can't help but notice that all the big news (PPSD school calendar change to establish the last day of school, now this) is coming directly from Facebook--useful, but not the most adequate broadcast strategy.

not just Providence, of course

School closings, probable or actual, are happening in many communities nationwide, and in an attempt to understand how this phenomenon is playing out elsewhere, Philadelphia's approach has come up in conversations frequently this week.

Philadelphia's plan to close some schools and restructure many others has been covered in its excellent independent Philadelphia Public School Notebook publication (which is what Providence Schools and Beyond wants to be when it grows up). Depending on your views and values, there's a lot to not love in Philly's proposals. I myself think that the suggestion that small schools don't serve kids well and aren't cost-effective is dead wrong.

But there's a lot for us to learn from Philadelphia's more deliberate approach to school closings and restructurings, particular the fact that the proposal is to take 18-24 months to roll out the restructuring plan and its acknowledgment that closing schools needs to be done but not for quick financial gains. From last week's Notebook story on the plan to close and restructure schools:

The draft plan released on Thursday, which Nunery described as a “work in progress,” is a response to the District’s 70,000 empty seats, hodgepodge of grade configurations and program offerings, and widely varying building utilization rates.

Currently, the District enrolls roughly 155,000 students and uses about 67 percent of its building capacity, officials say. By 2014, enrollment is expected to drop to 145,000, but the District wants to reach 85 percent utilization, which would mean shedding over 40,000 seats.

Although the District is facing a projected budget shortfall of $629 million next year, officials said the primary goal of the “rightsizing plan” is not to narrow the gap, and cautioned against expecting major savings resulting from the plan.

"Even though the economic impact would help us, it would be better if the communities are stronger," said Nunery.

The full plan, which will detail all of the proposed closures and other changes, is now expected to be made public in October. That timeline will allow for three months of public comment before the SRC votes on the plan in January 2012.

Philadelphia's timeline: discussion starts in April 2011 (actually, it's been ongoing prior to last week), plan announced in October 2011, SRC (their school board) vote in January 2012.

Providence's timeline: teacher firing and proposed school closings announced February 23 2011, schools proposed for closing named March 14, 2011, school board vote April 25, 2011.

Anyone who wishes could and should feel free to find fault with the Philly/Providence comparison. But it's hard to appreciate that the timeline of Philadelphia's plan to make more efficient use of its facilities operates at a scale that allows for community organization, education of folks in school communities who otherwise would have no meaningful opportunity to understand what's happening to their children and their neighborhood, time for decisionmakers and stakeholders to get up to speed--just more time for all of it, and more clarity about why changes need to happen and their significance (or financial lack thereof).

Report from Windmill Street Elementary School Board Hearing, March 30

Here's a brief report from the Providence School Board hearing on Windmill Street Elementary that took place at Windmill on March 30.

The Windmill school community used their advocacy skills tested by last year's PPSD proposal to close the school, which obviously ended in a decision to keep the school open. Lots of signs and poster, lots of families with kids and babies, 75+ students, teachers, parents making their cases to save their school. The hearing was heavy on emotion; lots of tears and desperation among speakers and audience members. It was crushingly sad to see so many kids, parents, and teachers so proud of and attached to their school say over and over and over and over that they wanted it to remain as an anchor of their community.

I don't know why Windmill is targeted for closure. Facility issues, it seems, rather than performance issues, as indicators of achievement have risen steadily over the past few years. Certainly not because other nearby schools can take up the slack. There are no other nearby elementary schools. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School and Veazie Street Elementary School are the nearest locations. Both are across major highways (King is across 95 and is a schlep to get to; Veazie Street is across 146 and not very nearby either) and fairly full themselves (I think that's the case for Veazie Street; it certainly is the case for King).

There was not enough meaningful commentary about the claim made by PPSD that many folks in the neighborhood don't use Windmill, one of the arguments for closing the school. Here in PDF form is the information that the district shared to back up that assertion. A few Windmill speakers described the experience of being dissuaded or even prevent by PPSD registration from enrolling their kids at Windmill, claims that aren't difficult to believe, so what the real story is about neighborhood demand for Windmill seats, I can't say. Right now, it doesn't seem that the neighborhood is hitting the levels of organization that's happening on the West Side via WSPEC. I wish I--or someone--had the capacity to spend time in the North End better understanding the situation. Clearly, this is a beloved school, an anchor of its community, and it feels wrong to remove the only option for a neighborhood school in that part of town.

Mayor Taveras meeting with WSPEC + Flynn School Board hearing tonight

Two quick notes:

Per the ProJo, his afternoon, the West Side Public Education Coalition met--or perhaps is still meeting--with Mayor Taveras to clarify the questions and issues its members have raised in public statements and on its web site about the impact proposed school closures and reorganizations will have on the West Side's communities. WPSEC has been awesome at sharing info--looking forward to a report from the meeting (which was closed to the public).

Very much not closed to the public is tonight's School Board hearing on the proposed closure of Flynn Elementary School, to take place at 6:00pm at the Davey Lopes Recreation Center at 227 Dudley Street. Again, if any Providence Schools and Beyond reader attends and is willing to write up notes and thoughts, I'd be thrilled to publish those here along with my quick summary of last week's Windmill Street Elementary hearing.

Questions from the West, questions from the East, and the company we keep

Both the West Side Public Education Coalition (WSPEC) and the East Side Public Education Coalition (ESPEC) have posted thoughtful, necessary questions about the intertwined school closing/teacher firing/student reassignment crises: WSPEC questions here and ESPEC questions here.

Timelines to meet city budget and teacher retirement deadlines have created a sense of urgency that seems to be in conflict with the equally urgent need for transparency, not to mention an appropriate process, described as a minimum 12-month process. in this comprehensive guide to school closures due to urgent fiscal pressures put out by the Broad Foundation.

To make sense of and meaningfully participate in the current situation and in order to (re)establish a baseline of trust so that we can move forward with faith in the system and our leaders, we (students, family members, educators, and everyone else) need clearer, better answers from the Mayor, other elected officials, and the school board.

And in order to put the proposed school closures into a national context, take a few minutes to read this excellent account from the Philadelphia Public School Notebook of the Ford Foundation's recent "Examining School Transformations and Closures from the Ground Up" event and related school closings/reorganizations in the works in Philly and Newark (thanks to Tom Hoffman for pointing out the Notebook story).

While the context in Providence doesn't overlap fully with what's happening in New York and Chicago, the effect of our current lightning round of school closures has the truly unfortunate potential to producing much of the same community alienation and distrust. And while those of us who know the situation in Providence can read the Notebook's account and say, "Well, that's not us," those outside our context could and likely will easily believe that our city is selling out its public schools in ways that the Chicago and New York activists are claiming (if you need proof of this, see the recent claims that the city's move to dismiss all PPSD teachers put us firmly in Wisconsin's company).

Let me be clear: I don't think that's what's happening. There's a completely valid case to be made for "rightsizing" a district by dealing with excess school building capacity. There's a real need to deal with school buildings that have outlived their usefulness as places that provide the conditions for excellent teaching and learning. And there's a completely evident urgency that Providence must deal with its finances responsibly. No arguments there. But because the rushed process cannot include meaningful community/stakeholder participation, we have to face the reality that we're damaging our city's public schools, even though that damage may be inadvertent. Therefore, the need to get clear answers to pressing questions is critically important right now so that we can put everyone in all neighborhoods to work containing the damage and moving forward to ensure the best shot at ensuring consistently good schools for all kids in every part of Providence.

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!

West Side Walk for Better Schools, Saturday, 3/26, 8:00am

As a way to make visible the desire for walkable, neighborhood schools (some of which are threatened to be closed as a result of the city's recent cost-cutting measures), the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, the West Side Public Education Coalition (WSPEC), NoMADS and Project Future are inviting families and supporter to join a West Side Walk for Better Schools. The march will take place at 8:00am, leaving from Hudson Deli at 68 Hudson Street and lead participants to the 9:00am PPSD Forum that's taking place at Classical High School. Click here for details and a map; here's a link to a press release from WSPEC for more on the march.

PPSD school profiles: I have my doubts

As part of the information that the district is providing to support public input toward and understanding of the process of closing and reorganizing several schools, it has provided updated school profiles based on assessments made by consulting firm Fanning Howey that demonstrate the space determinations it's working with as it assesses opportunities to reassign students and best utilize existing space.

Making sure that students are in the best school of their choice and making sure the district is using existing space efficiently are goals that at least most of us can support. I am not sure, however, that the recommendations provided in the school profiles provide optimal information for making decisions that ensure continuity and the best conditions for teaching and learning.

To be totally transparent, I don't know much about what the possibilities and limits are in each building. I know only one building well, and that's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, where my kids have been students since 2005. Its profile is on the left. Click here to access all of the school facility profiles.

What I noticed immediately was the building capacity estimate of 700. We currently have 530 or so, and that feels like a whole lot of kids. It's hard to imagine 700 with our current staffing situation, which includes just one administrator and half-time art and music teachers.

The chart that describes the grade structure that would make 700 kids at King possible reveals a range of intriguing and/or disturbing assumptions. The "space type" list states that we have room for four pre-K classes, yet there are only two rooms allocated for pre-K, each of which currently houses a full-day pre-K class. I appreciate the commitment to continuing King's excellent pre-K program, but am not sure how two more pre-K rooms would be possible.

The chart also states that King has room for four kindergarten classes. Currently, we have three kindergarten classes, all housed together in an area of the school that works well for kindergartners. In the past, we have had four kindergarten classes and it doesn't work well. The fourth K class is at a relative disadvantage, without dedicated bathrooms or easy access to a K-only recess area.

I know, cry me a river. Plenty of K classes across the city don't have those amenities. But having four K classes bodes poorly for our kids. As you follow the space chart up through the grades, it indicates that we have room for four first and second grade classrooms, but then the number of classrooms drops to three in third through fifth grades.

So where are those extra 26 kids supposed to go in third grade? This is not a rhetorical question. In recent years, King has tried to support four classrooms of each grade in the early years, only to have to drop to three as the kids go on--the very scenario that's being suggested. It's terrible for the kids who want to stay and are forced out. What's the mechanism supposed to be for deciding who stays and who goes? How is this good for kids or in any way equitable? It's not.

Yes, student attrition due to mobility may take care of some slots, but as the demand for seats grows districtwide and at King in particular (it's a popular choice both in its neighborhood and citywide), it seems inevitable that some kids will be forced to attend other schools. In the past, when this situation has occurred, it has demanded considerable time from our very devoted principals (not that we have two, but that both of the men who have served as principal at King recently have had to deal with this) as families panic and try to figure out what to do.

Is the assumption of the facility profile that we're supposed to institutionalize this terrible process? Are 26 kids every year supposed to expect to pack up and move after second grade? I hope not, but it seems to be the case. Again, I know that compared to some of the situations that educators, families and students face in other buildings, this is a relatively high class problem. But it matters hugely to kids for whom having educational continuity is often an essential part of their success. Let's not intentionally create situations that ensure disruption and damage.

Again, for all I know, King is the only such school for which such misguided recommendations are being made. If anyone reading has thoughts about the implications about the recommendations for schools that they know well, please chime in so that those at PPSD making decisions about facilities will pay attention to the long term implications of the available space that the Fanning Howey recommendations seem to indicate.

PPSD Community Meetings - happening this week!

This week, the Providence Public Schools is holding six Community Meetings to allow opportunities for us to get in-depth answers to questions about school closings, student assignment, teacher hiring and firing, or other changes that may happen as a result of the city’s financial crisis. Click on the flier to the right for more information.

These are taking place at the following locations and times:

Juanita Sánchez Educational Complex
182 Thurbers Avenue
Tuesday, March 22, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
OR
Saturday, March 26, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Classical High School
770 Westminster Street
Wednesday, March 23, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
OR
Saturday, March 26, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

Veazie Street Elementary School
211 Veazie Street
Thursday, March 24, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
OR
Saturday, March 26, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Word from the district is that these aren't taking place in the schools that have been slated for closure and/or reorganization (Flynn Elementary, Asa Messer Elementary, Asa Messer Annex, Windmill Street School, and Bridgham Middle School) due to ADA accessibility requirements.

I am going to try hard to make it to at least one--likely one or two of the Saturday sessions. Anyone who goes tonight, tomorrow or Thursday, please post a comment so we can have some immediate first hand reports.

Nothing Beats the Eyeball, and the ripple effect of school closings

About an hour ago, I headed over to Windmill Street School to drop off some fliers for the Parent and Community Forum on the Providence Public Schools that's happening on Saturday (you're coming, right? Right!). All inside of course was business as usual for the whole 15 minutes I was there. Business as usual, including custodial staff and kitchen staff at work cleaning up after lunch, aides walking with kids down the hall, the school office staff joking around about how lucky I was to be able to go outside into the sunshine. No joke - it is gorgeous out there today! Why I am inside typing away is something I should not consider very carefully or I will stop.

And of course it hit me like a belated load of bricks that when a school closes, many people beyond teachers, students, and families feel the effects. I don't know where the school staff at Windmill, Flynn, Asa Messer, Asa Messer Annex, and Bridgham will end up. I hope all of them who are great assets to their current schools land in places where they continue to serve young people well. This article from yesterday's Brown Daily Herald does a nice job of capturing the ripple effect of unintended and sometimes unnoticed consequences that results when a school closes or is disrupted.

Years ago, when I was settling into editing and writing Horace for the Coalition of Essential Schools, I had a long chat with Gary Heyder, a custodian at Hilliard Weaver Middle School in Hilliard, Ohio. He was so thoroughly eloquent about his work as an educator, accomplished as he went about his work as a custodian that I did what love doing best, which was to work with him to shape his words into "A Caring Adult in a Different Setting," which ran under his own byline. The title is meh - I really wish we'd called it "Nothing Beats the Eyeball" - but the piece is a powerful strong reminder that the adults that spend time with our kids at school have the potential to be forces for greatness in their lives.

I cannot say whether any of the school staff that are affected by the school closures in Providence interact like Gary Heyder does (thought I'd bet that some do). I don't know offhand if any of them are unionized here and the ways their contract with the city (or with Sodexho and/or Aramark) affects their prospects for continued employment in other PPSD schools. If anyone who is reading this has a clue, please comment to shed some light.

PPSD school closings announced + please sign petition

The ProJo has the rundown on the anticipated school closures with detail about expected teaching job losses, reconfiguration of several schools that are remaining open, and more. The article is here.

Flynn Elementary School, Windmill Street Elementary School, Asa Messer Elementary School and the Asa Messer Annex will all close. Bridgham Middle School will become an elementary school. In order to create space for the teachers who will be losing positions, teachers considering retirement will be offered a one-time stipend to do so. Other shifts and changes which at least on the surface seem to make a lot of sense are described in the article.

Not described in the article nor in the press conference at which Mayor Taveras and Superintendent Brady spoke was any sense of how teachers from those schools will be hired back into positions. Will they interview for open positions under the district's criterion-based hiring system? Will they be able to bump less senior teachers? Will there be another way? Not clear now. What is clear is that if you do not think that seniority should be the single and only deciding factor for teacher hiring, now is the time to express that opinion. Please take a moment to sign "Put education needs of Providence kids first," a petition created to tell our school board members and other officials that we wish to see a way to manage teacher hirings that both respects experience, wisdom, and seniority and considers other factors. Please take a moment to sign.

School closing announcement delayed again. Who stays and who goes?

Mayor Taveras' office has released a statement that the school closures announcement, originally slated for Monday and postponed until today, will now happen on Monday, March 14. Here it is, in full:

Superintendent Thomas Brady and Mayor Angel Taveras have postponed by one week submission of a list of schools recommended for closure in 2011-12.  The list will be announced on Monday, March 14, 2011. The decision to postpone reflects the seriousness of the process, the complex variables that must be considered before a school is closed, and a commitment to conduct school closures in a manner that produces the best outcomes for students and significant cost savings for the City. In addition, the administration is still in ongoing conversations with leadership at the Providence Teachers Union to discuss how teachers displaced by the closure will be terminated and how those unaffected will have their letters of dismissal rescinded. These are challenging decisions that cannot be made lightly or without adequate consideration.

The second to last sentence points to a real challenge: who will stay, who will go, and how will that be determined? I ask the Mayor not to use seniority as the sole basis for continued employment. If the only criterion is seniority, the result will be bumping, which allows senior teachers to displace more junior teachers. This destroys the fabric of school communities and presents the prospect of disruption that our already stressed-out students can't afford.

I write this with great respect for our teachers with seniority in the system. We need their wisdom and experience. Seniority has a place in the hiring and retention process, but it cannot be the only factor.

PPSD kindergarten registration field report

Yesterday, I stopped by Providence Public Schools' Student Registration and Placement Center to register my youngest child for kindergarten. In and out in 25 minutes. The staff confirmed that 4:00 in the afternoon on weekdays is a great time to stop in if you can; in our case, it was the only hour I had available that has been designated for children whose last name starts with the letter of the alphabet with which my youngest son's last name starts.

Much was the same as when I registered my second child three years ago: too-loud tv blaring in ther corner, blank empty room, lots of chairs in rows. A shelf or two of books and games for kids would be lovely, and perhaps a DVD featuring performances and learning in action in Providence Public School classrooms would go far to making the wait (brief in my case, but longer for many) more pleasant.

Nevertheless, the process itself was easy. Filled out the various forms, presented birth certificate, health records, and proof of residency (this kid's circumstances don't require extra steps of ESL assessment or IEP processing), a chat with the registration staff member to confirm or supply information, and that was that. As I was registering my son for a school which a sibling attends, I received verbal confirmation that he would have a kindergarten seat at that school as long as his immunization records were up to date.

In past years, the process included meeting with a school nurse to review health records. Not this year - the registration staff member I met with reported that they're swamped and no longer do those individual meetings. A nurse will review kids' immunization and health records and be in touch if anything is missing or awry.

So that was that. 25 mostly low-stress minutes from start to finish. I do not expect that everyone will have an identical experience, and I continue to suggest you enter into the process informed about which schools you wish to choose as a first choice and the implications of those choices. Read this post on registering your child for kindergarten and first grade in the Providence Public Schools for thoughts on those matters, and for more advice.

The only caveat to the ease of the experience--well, the only caveat in addition to the blaring tv in the waiting area--is the uncertainty that all parents share about which schools are likely to close. The announcement of which schools will be closed, originally slated to be released yesterday, was delayed--here's Mayor Taveras' statement on the reasons for that delay and the criteria that decisionmakers are using about choosing which schools to close. The timing is terrible, of course. Parents may well be choosing schools that will soon be closed, or finding that the school that they chose will be significantly different due to increased student population or other unknown factors. I asked the registration staff member who assisted me how this would impact her work and she sighed in a way with which any one of us prepared to put in many long, difficult hours at work would sympathize.

PPSD school closing announcement moved to Wed., March 9

The ProJo reports that the announcement that will tell us which Providence schools will be recommended for closure as a result of our financial crisis has been delayed until Wednesday, March 9. Here's the original timeline that Mayor Taveras shared last week.

If you're still reading, having made it through that painful passive construction that I used in the first sentence above, thank you for hanging in there. Since last week, when all of this started with the teacher termination news, Mayor Taveras' office has initiated all communication from the city's perspective about what's happening to our teachers, schools, and other education-related matters. Perhaps moving forward, some of this info will start to come from PPSD, though there's no way to be sure of that, hence the grammatical hedge.