Mayor Angel Taveras and Providence Public School District Superintendent Tom Brady announced their recommendations to close four elementary schools in a press conference Monday afternoon. The school board must approve the recommended closings before they can be finalized.
The recommendations follow Taveras' decision to issue dismissal notices to all 1,926 Providence teachers.
The mayor recommended closing four elementary schools — Flynn Elementary School, Windmill Street Elementary School, Asa Messer Elementary School and the Asa Messer Annex — and converting Bridgham Middle School into an elementary school.
"This is sort of the beginning of the pain," Taveras said at the press conference. "This is the first of the many difficult days. No one likes closing schools. It has to be done."
The schools recommended for closing were chosen on the basis of physical quality of facilities, student performance, potential costs of school renovations and ease of transferring students, Brady said.
If the school board approves the recommendations, 40 to 70 teachers are expected to lose their jobs, school officials told the Providence Journal yesterday. They added that teachers eligible for retirement will be offered a one-time stipend to leave at the end of the school year to reduce the number of teachers forced to leave involuntarily. The officials expect the closings and layoffs to save the city $12 million.
Six community forums have been scheduled to discuss the closings starting March 22, according to several news sources.
"The Providence Teachers Union is still opposed to the closings as an attempt to address the financial crisis," Debra Morais, a union representative, told The Herald. The union views collective bargaining agreements and alternative ways to cut spending as better solutions to the city's budget crisis, Morais said.
Morais said the union is currently focusing on "trying to connect and console teachers."
The school closings "should allow the retention of the best and brightest among teachers," said Victor Profughi, Rhode Island College professor emeritus of political science and director of the polling firm Quest Research. Profughi said the smaller number of schools would allow for greater concentration of capable teachers.
Taveras' actions demonstrate a willingness to make tough decisions to tackle the city's challenges, Profughi said. "Obviously the city has a tremendous fiscal issue that has to be addressed, and making these rather bold steps and bold initiatives early in the administration sets a tone that this mayor is going to attempt to deal with the fiscal issues facing the city in a serious manner," he said.
