Pawtucket School Committee Needs to Reverse Itself and Reopen the Schools

Where are the voices representing students and families?

I admittedly gasped the other night when news broke that the Pawtucket school committee had overruled the superintendent’s recommendation and instead voted unanimously to keep schools closed for grades 1-12 through the end of the year. The decision means that the vast majority of children in Pawtucket will not have gone to school a single day this entire school year and that makes them an outlier in the state. I live 10 minutes from Pawtucket and while hardly ideal, my kids get to go to school two days a week (and parents who want an all remote option have that too.)

My mind immediately went to how the announcement would land with parents, especially those for whom distance learning has been a constant struggle. How do you keep moving forward with all hope gone that your child’s school will open this year? The tears, the frustration, the regression—to learn that there is no end in sight has to be overwhelming. 

According to parent survey data, 55 percent of Pawtucket parents prefer that schools reopen and offer an in-person option. 45 percent preferred all- remote school. To the minds of committee members, these numbers are basically equal. No they’re not. And it’s important to also note that the survey data doesn’t take into account the high non-response rates at some schools. I suspect, if Pawtucket is like most districts, the real numbers are closer to 65-35. A few relevant pieces of information about the survey: 

• The survey was repeatedly changed and “clarified.” Parents say they were first told that if they wanted their parents to attend in-person, they did not need to fill out the survey. That was later changed. 

• In order to fill out the survey, parents had to log in to a platform (Skyward) to record their answers — this platform had never been parent facing before so logging in was an issue for many. If parents had questions, which many did, they were supposed to contact a call center. Unfortunately, when parents did that, they discovered that those working at the call center were often unable to answer their questions. And if they did log their answers via the call center, were they ever recorded? 

• Parents understandably wanted to know if their kids would stay with the same teacher if they returned in person—the union knows this question is important to parents and they consistently refuse to answer it. Without that information, some parents were ambivalent about how to answer. 

School committee deputy chair Erin Dube, who made the motion to keep all students (except pre-K and K) doing school at home, shared during the meeting that distance learning is going well for her kids. And that’s great for her. But so what? What does her experience have to do with the wildly different experiences of her constituents? For the families who are struggling mightily with remote learning, the comment was an insulting and tone-deaf way to explain or defend her motion.

Parents of children entitled to special education accommodations are claiming that their children’s Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are not being followed (and these concerns are not unique to distance learning in Pawtucket—the US Department’s Office of Civil Rights just announced they are investigating the Seattle Public Schools over their handling of special education during the pandemic.) I do not know where the truth lies in Pawtucket but claims of compliance were made by committee members during the meeting that remain hard to confirm. Special population students in Pawtucket—high need students who are unable to be in an inclusive classroom— will also be able to return to in person classes with Pre-K and K. All other special education students will continue with remote learning. Some multi-language learners will also have he option to return in person.

The reaction to the unanimous vote by the Pawtucket school committee is truly a study in contradictions. And power. The union president expressed gratitude after the vote.

(Update: Since publishing this piece, the union president has alerted me that I had mischaracterized how he felt after the the vote. I have changed some wording in the piece to reflect that and added a link to his official statement.)

All of the sitting members of the school committee received an endorsement from the Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance.

Union president Ronald Beaupre said this in response to the vote: “I am confident that because of our collective efforts, our students will continue to be successful, and I look forward to returning to brick and mortar instruction when it is safe to do so.”

Students will continue to be successful? On what metrics is he basing his claims of success? 

I decided to take a look at the district’s academic data to see what Beaupre’s idea of success looks like. 

19 percent of 8th grade students in Pawtucket met or exceeded expectations in reading and writing on the most recent round of RICAS testing. 

In math, only 9 percent are considered proficient. Fewer than one out of ten 8th graders in the city of Pawtucket can do math on grade level. 

If we only look at black students in 8th grade, 14 percent met or exceeded grade level expectations. 46 percent of black students earned a 1 (out of 4) which means that they are nowhere near hitting the grade level standard. That means that almost half of the black 8th graders in Pawtucket are functionally illiterate. And their school committee is keeping out of school for more than an entire school year. 

In math, only 9.6 percent of black 8th graders in Pawtucket are proficient in math. And 5.6 percent of Latino students are proficient. And 15 percent of white students are proficient.

Members of Black Lives Matter Rhode Island had planned to attend and speak at the meeting until they were unexpectedly prevented from doing so—they weren’t aware of the sign up rules. Pawtucket has the highest percentage of black students of any district in the state and now they have no option to attend school in person this school year. BLM RI thinks that’s an injustice —I wholeheartedly agree. 

I had a lengthy talk with a mom whose 5th grade son is having such a hard time with remote learning that she doesn’t see how the district can possibly promote him to the 6th grade next year. Teodolinda Lopes (Lindy) is extremely disappointed by the action taken by the school committee. Her son has a 504 plan for ADHD but she says he is getting no help. He’s failing at least two subjects and she describes him as “stressed out and frustrated.” She works in health care and thinks that the district’s focus on health as it relates to COVID-19 has led them to completely ignore the mental health of their students. 

He isn’t ready for 6th grade. He doesn’t know anything. — Lindy Lopes, Pawtucket mother

Lopes admits that school has been hard for her son since kindergarten and says that he needs hands-on learning. She and her husband both work 40 hours a week outside the home and she says that she’s always on her son to do his work but acknowledges that yelling at him only makes him feel worse. She doesn’t understand why the parents who prefer remote learning get an option that works for them but she and others who agree with her don’t. 

She wonders what the point of the survey was if, despite more parents voting for in-person learning, they still voted to keep the schools closed. She describes the school department as “selfish” and says they are not thinking about the kids’ futures. She feels like the school is wasting her time and her son’s time and says that parents have been driven to tears dealing with this.

She ends our call with the description of a scene that keeps playing out in her home: 

“Mommy, I’m raising my hand but my teacher doesn’t see me. I can’t ask a question.” So he gives up. 

It is unconscionable to keep these students out of a school for a year and a half. It’s one thing if parents choose distance learning but to provide no in-person option for any students in grades 1-12 is a total abdication of responsibility.

The Pawtucket school committee needs to reverse this decision and do everything in its power to get the district’s buildings open for the families who desperately need and want it.