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Let's go back to the Spring of 2012 when Mr. O'Keefe tells the Director of Pupil Personnel to cut 20% of the budget. With empty promises, the Director convinces Mr. O'Keefe that personnel can be cut, students can be brought back from out of district placements. (without a program in place), one administrator can be eliminated from the Department of Special Services and the Early Learning Program can be dismantled and decimated. As a matter of record and as witnessed today by the return of two teacher assistants, all special education teachers, with the exception of those who left of their own accord, have returned to a position. All teacher assistants have been called back. No savings there! Five educational specialists were let go at a savings of $350,000; but two have been called back to train other staff. Let's not forget that the district has to pay unemployment. No savings there! The Out-of District students did not return to district and the School Department will have to pay a settlement fee. No savings there! The Department of Pupil Personnel needs to figure out if it wants to bring students back or send them out.(See Providence Sunday Journal) No savings there! Did you know the highest paid employee over the Summer made $1,000 an hour for approximately five hours of supervision to the ESY program? No savings there! The new coordinator's position will cost $72,000 plus $35, 800 at a minimum to back-fill the vacated position. How much did the Director tell Mr. O'Keefe would be saved at a Budget Commission meeting? I heard $18,000. Wrong. It will cost a total of $107,800. No savings there! Isn't it a violation of the Open Meetings Law for a Budget Commission member and the Director of Pupil Personnel to discuss privately before a meeting issues that are brought up at the subsequent meeting? To Mr. O'Keefe: You always save money when you cut people and programs; you just don't save the children! We haven't figured out yet if 5.4 million has been cut from the Special Education Budget. All there is is spending. No savings there! How much does it cost to bring in The Autism Project to work with teachers throughout the year? No savings there! The maintenance department has to take time away from their regular duties to paint new offices at City Hall. No savings there! Figure it out! Was money saved or was more money spent? Come to the next Budget Commission meeting and see some members pass notes to one another. Waste of paper. No savings there! See you on the 18th.

Mr O'keefe, I think you have the robbers confused. The only ones robbing the teachers and students in other classrooms are the Federal Government for cutting funds, the State of Rhode Island for cutting funds, the City of East Providence for under-funding the School Department and the administrators who make funding decisions only to enhance and expand their own egos.

To quote Mr. O'keefe, "The amount of money spent in the past on Special Education has created inequities between it and the rest of the school population." The light bulb must have gone on. Every Special Education Department in every city, in every state, in every province, in every country all around the world would create inequities between that department and the rest of the school population by virtue of the need for special education services, devices, etc. which are ultimately included in a child's IEP. Those services do cost extra money because a child with a disability has more needs than a general education student. Nothing new here....except that the innuendo seems to lay blame with the child. Imagine a child with a disability absorbing more school dollars than one of his or her non-disabled peers. Wow! This is why the State should have appointed an educator to sit on the Budget Commission. Then, perhaps, there would be no need for such an absurd statement!

From: East Providence Budget Commission holds first hearing on FY2013 plan

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.