Rhode Island to relinquish control of Providence schools on July 1

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — In an unexpected development, R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced Wednesday she is recommending the state relinquish control of the Providence schools by July 1.

The commissioner will make the recommendation to the R.I. Council on Elementary and Secondary Education on May 26, saying her decision came after “deep deliberation and consultation” with city and state leaders.

“This is an important moment, and I want to be clear: this conversation is happening now because of the work you — the students, families, educators and support staff, the community,” Infante-Green wrote in an open letter to the Providence Public Schools community.

If the handoff is successful, Providence would regain control of its school district for the first time since November 2019, following a devastating Johns Hopkins University report documenting systemic failures.

Infante-Green’s decision represents an about-face from Tuesday when she told reporters that she wanted to begin transitioning the district back to Providence this summer, but with the eventual handoff not happening until July 2027.

“I’m the one who put the line in the sand and said it’s going back in 2027,” Infante-Green said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, internal negotiations spilled into public view, exposing tensions over how the transition would unfold. On Tuesday, Infante-Green spokesperson Victor Morente chastised the Providence School Board for making those internal discussions public.

“Violating the confidentiality of these meetings undermines the mutual trust needed for a successful transition and raises serious questions about board leadership’s ability to manage complex, high-stakes negotiations,” Morente said in a statement.

In a draft order Infante-Green plans to recommend to the council, the commissioner outlined a series of steps the district should take to support its “long-term success.”

“The commissioner hereby states her firm conviction that the progress made by PPSD while it was under state control will not continue, and in fact student achievement in the district will regress, if the following measures, or substantially similar measures, are not undertaken by the responsible parties,” she wrote in the order.

The recommendations include hiring a board coordinator, commissioning a third-party review of governance strategies, properly funding schools and requiring training on the R.I. Code of Ethics.

The state’s nearly seven years running the problem-plagued school district has been a mixed bag. In her letter, Infante-Green cited examples of “measurable progress” during state control, including stronger academic outcomes, higher graduation rates and improvements in chronic absenteeism.

Yet only a third of students are proficient in English language arts, and just 31.4% are proficient in math, according to the latest standardized test scores. Many local and state leaders have also characterized the state takeover as a failed experiment, accusing RIDE of repeatedly moving the goalposts on measures of success and the return of local control.

The timing of the handoff to local control would come at the same time state and local politicians are vying to keep their jobs.

Gov. Dan McKee is trying to fend off a challenge from Democratic rival Helena Foulkes. Foulkes has said, if elected governor, she would fire Infante-Green and return local control to Providence.

McKee said Tuesday “the time has come” for the schools to go back to Providence.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley is facing his own Democratic primary challenge from state Rep. David Morales. Both men have supported regaining control of the Providence schools.

According to her draft order, Infante-Green said she would maintain authority over the schools until they are handed off. Until that time, she would retain “the right to rescind or modify” the order, she wrote.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated.

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