Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Questions about the need for 'yellow' school bus transportation to and from middle school games step up to the plate at the East Providence School Committee meeting.
Some unanswered questions about the club-like sports teams at East Providence’s middle schools, particularly about transportation to and from games, stepped up to the plate at the School Committee meeting Tuesday night. Private donations saved the baseball and softball teams at Martin and Riverside middle schools this spring after the budgets for all middle school sports were eliminated by the East Providence Budget Commission last fall. The teams are playing like privately funded club teams against other middle schools that are funded by taxpayer dollars. But some questions about transportation to and from the games apparently still need some answers, said Paul Amaral, athletics director for the E.P. schools. Those questions were among …
Monday, May 13, 2013
The May meeting of the East Providence board begins at 7 pm in the Council Chamber in City Hall.
The East Providence School Committee meets Tuesday, May 14, for its regular monthly meeting with reports from Superintendent Kim Mercer on facilites, personnel and transportation on middle school sports transportation among the items on the agenda. The meeting starts at 7 pm in the Council Chamber in City Hall after the board goes into executive session at 6:15 pm. Here is the complete agenda for Tuesday night's meeting: East Providence School Committee City Hall Council Chamber, 145 Taunton Avenue May 14, 2013, 7 pm AGENDA A. Call to Order Public Session – 6:15 PM B. The Committee will seek to convene in Executive Session for purposes of discussing: 1) Personnel - R.I. Gen. Laws §42-46-5(a) (1) 2) Collective Bargaining R.I. Gen. Laws §42-…
Friday, March 29, 2013
The East Providence Budget Commission returns control of the city's finances to E.P. officials without an AFO -- for now -- but with a liaison to the City Council as a financial watchdog.
East Providence officials were given back control of the city’s finances Thursday afternoon after almost 16 months of control by the state. The East Providence Budget Commission delegated that authority back to the City Council and School Committee at its final official meeting Thursday afternoon, March 28, in City Hall. Gov. Lincoln Chafee watched on as that transition occurred with many smiles and affirmations. The transition came about officially at 3:29 pm. It went away in December of 2011 when the Budget Commission was appointed by RI Revenue Director Rosemary Booth Gallogly to clean up a city in financial chaos and with millions of dollars in deficit spending. The Budget Commission still exists, though. And it will continue to …
Friday, March 15, 2013
Curriculum officer Rebekah Gendron shows the School Committee where East Providence students stand on the achievement tests.
Math scores on the most recent NECAP achievement tests for the East Providence High School junior class got the most attention at the School Committee's meeting last Tuesday night, March 12. Those scores on the New England Common Assessment Program test taken last fall got the most attention because they show that 42 percent of the students would not graduate right now if they had no future chance of making improvements. But a host of other scores were presented by Rebekah Gendron, a curriculum officer with the school department, to demonstrate where East Providence stands in what is often referred to now as "high-stakes testing" for the junior class. Gendron transferred the scores to slides for the presentation. It offers a visual look at…
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Approximately 42 percent of juniors at East Providence High School would not graduate right now based on their 'high-stakes testing' scores in math.
Approximately 42 percent of the juniors at East Providence High School would not graduate today based on their math scores under Rhode Island’s “high-stakes testing” requirement for graduation that kicks in nex year. To help deal with those 141 students in the Class of 2014, the School Committee approved Tuesday night spending $17,000 for a “summer math camp” that will not be required, only recommended. The vote was unanimous. The so-called camp was proposed by Janet Sheehan, the high school principal. It is expected to run about four weeks at the end of this summer after the traditional “summer school” ends. “I’ve already talked to those juniors,” Sheehan said. “They know that if they don’t participate they will be on their own.” Those …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The East Providence School Committee approves Kimberly 'Kim' Mercer, deputy superintendent in Pawtucket, as the new superintendent in a unanimous vote that was widely anticipated on Tuesday evening.
East Providence has a new superintendent of schools. The School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday evening in City Hall to appoint Kimberly Mercer, the deputy superintendent of schools in Pawtucket, to the position. She will start March 25. The vote was hardly unexpected. She was the only finalist selected by the search committee to be interviewed by the school board. “We got a clear recommendations for Ms. Mercer from the search committee,” said School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro. He said the only approval she needs now is from the East Providence Budget Commission at its final meeting on March 28. But that is expected to be a formality with Mercer already on the job by that point. Mercer thanked each member of the School …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The East Providence school board meets tonight with presumptive superintendent Kim Mercer's nomination on the agenda.
The East Providence School Committee is expected to approve the nomination of Kim Mercer as the next superintendent of schools at its meeting tonight in City Hall. School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro said Mercer, the deputy superintendent of schools in Pawtucket, is the only finalist and has the endorsement of the search committee. "I anticipate we'll get a motion to appoint her as superintendent," he said. Given her appointment by the School Committee, Mercer's starting date could be "almost immediate" even though her appointment still needs the official approval of the East Providence Budget Commission on March 28. But Budget Commission Chair Diane Brennan was on the search committee, he said. And the budget board has been slowly …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Kim Mercer, deputy superintendent in Pawtucket and the only finalist for East Providence superintendent of schools, is introduced at a special School Committee meeting.
The only finalist for superintendent of schools in East Providence was introduced to the community Wednesday night at a special School Committee meeting in City Hall. The search committee put together by the Budget Commission will now reconvene to make a decision on Kim Mercer, deputy superintendent of the Pawtucket schools. A decision on Mercer’s candidacy could come before the end of next week, said Heather Martino, the Budget Commission staff member on the search committee who has been administering the process. But there is no specific deadline to hire anyone, Martino said. Mercer answered more than a dozen questions over about 40 minutes delivered by School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro and Vice Chairman Timothy Conley. Members …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Kim Mercer, deputy superintendent in Pawtucket, will be interviewed on Wednesday evening by the East Providence School Committee at a special public meeting in City Hall.
The only finalist for superintendent of schools in East Providence will go before the School Committee in City Hall on Wednesday evening, Feb. 27. The special public meeting starts at 7 pm in the Council Chamber. Kim Mercer, deputy superintendent in the neighboring Pawtucket school system for 11 years, will be interviewed with questions gathered from a variety of sources, said School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro. The questions are coming from a variety of sources, including staff, teachers, and members of the school board. The questions have been screened to avoid duplications, he said. Mercer is considered far and away the leading candidate to fill the school superintendent’s post, said Monteiro, a search committee member who is very …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Dozens of parents showed up at a public hearing hosted by the East Providence School Committee Wednesday evening; the school board expects to decide on the recommendation to close Oldham next week.
Dozens of Oldham parents stated their case for keeping the Riverside elementary school open Wednesday night at a hearing hosted by the East Providence School Committee in Riverside Middle School. The school has been recommended for closure by Interim Superintendent John DeGoes with most of the students and the entire staff to be moved to nearby Waddington School. The parents – often emotional and definitely perturbed by the possible loss of their neighborhood school – questioned the rationale, the argument and the motive for closing the school. During the hearing, which ran for almost four hours, they left very little unsaid. In no particular order, they asked why one of the highest performing schools in the city is being shuttered. They …
William Rupp
4:12 pm on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Thank you, Kevin. I made the change in this story. more ›