School Committee chair seeks improved cooperation under new form

Tsonos believes Mayor DaSilva will be a valued partner in the process

By Mike Rego
Posted 1/10/19

EAST PROVIDENCE — For Charles Tsonos and his four colleagues on the School Committee — Jessica Beauchaine, Anthony Ferreira, Joel Monteiro and Karen Oliveira — last week’s inaugural was a …

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School Committee chair seeks improved cooperation under new form

Tsonos believes Mayor DaSilva will be a valued partner in the process

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — For Charles Tsonos and his four colleagues on the School Committee — Jessica Beauchaine, Anthony Ferreira, Joel Monteiro and Karen Oliveira — last week’s inaugural was a mere formality as each took their oaths of office for their two-year terms after having run unopposed at the November 2018 off-year election.

Messrs. Tsonos, Ferreira and Monteiro along with Ms. Beauchaine were all returned to office while Mrs. Oliveira was elected for the first time. Mr. Ferreira and Mr. Monteiro are the longest serving members on the body, entering their fourth terms having been elected initially in 2012. Ms. Beauchaine is about to start her third term upon her original entry to the position in 2014. Mrs. Oliveira replaces Nathan Cahoon, who opted not to seek a third term from his Ward 3, instead, similarly, running unopposed and elected to the City Council from the same district.

Mr. Tsonos, last week selected by his peers to serve as the School Committee chairman once again, returned to the body in 2014 following an unsuccessful run for state representative in 2012. He previously held the same Ward 1 seat on the committee for two years following the 2010 election.

“I think we have a very good School Committee,” Mr. Tsonos said after the inaugural held Tuesday night, Jan. 8, in the Elmasian Auditorium at East Providence High School. “Everyone brings a lot to the table. Everyone is important. Everyone’s ideas are important.”

On being chosen to serve as chairman for a third term, he added, “I see it as a vote of confidence to go forward doing what we’ve been doing the last several years. We’ve done a lot, but we still have a lot left to get done. We aren’t just building a new high school. We have to improve our other buildings. And our population is growing. Our classrooms are full. So we have a lot of other issues on the table.”

The School Committee, like the city’s other elected and appointed officials, starts its term under East Providence’s new elected-mayor form of government. Roberto “Bob” DaSilva earned the distinction of being the city’s first duly chosen chief executive with his victory over James Russo last November.

And though the structure of East Providence’s government has changed, many of the machinations of the old council-manager form remain.

“We still have to deal with the City Council, and now we have to deal with a full-time mayor, which I think is good,” Mr. Tsonos said. “There are a lot of other issues in the city, but most of those issues aren’t in the school department. The school department is in relatively good shape.”

Mr. Tsonos said he gained an insight into how things will take shape going forward after he was selected to serve on Mayor DaSilva’s transition team, which helped the incoming administration survey the operations of the city.

“I was on the transition committee, and I can tell you the focus has been on other departments. It hasn’t been on the school, police or fire departments,” Mr. Tsonos explained. “While I think the school department is in relatively good shape, there are other things not having a functioning city manager and City Council, I think, the city missed a few beats on.

“In my own opinion, from what I’ve seen and heard, there may be some departments that have been overly taxed, by that I mean overburdened with a lot of issues. The positive is the I think the good news is the city is in good financial shape, but you can’t sit still.”

Communication between the parties, as it has been in the past, remains a central focus of the chairman under the new setup.

“I think we have to maintain a two-way dialogue with the City Council, which is something I have always tried to do, but now we also have to maintain that dialogue with the mayor because the mayor is now an important piece of that puzzle,” Mr. Tsonos said.

He continued, “Like funding for the schools, when they put the money presentation together it will now also have to have the mayor’s approval as well as that of the council. But I think the mayor will be a good lobbyist for the schools and the entire city.

“And that’s the main point. Unlike in the past, the mayor is accountable to the entire city, everyone in the city, not just three votes on the city council. And no one, none of us, works in a vacuum. I think the mayor will work with everyone because we all need to work together to get the hard work done.”

Mr. Tsonos backed Mr. DaSilva’s run for mayor, so it is safe to conclude they are on the same page when it comes to certain matters, an assertion the former did not dispute. However, he admitted there will likely be times when there is disagreement between the mayor’s office and the School Committee on some issues.

“Look, when you put two people together they’re not going to agree on everything, but I think we’re close,” Mr. Tsonos said. “I think he’s willing to talk. He comes into the new high school process after it’s already begun. It’s on the tracks, but he will still have input going forward. He’s someone we have to talk to and negotiate with going forward.”

The effort to construct a new East Providence High School is well underway following voter approval of a $189.5 million bond referendum item at the same November 2018 election. The project is targeted for a summer 2019 start date with a timeline for completion by the opening of classes in the fall of 2021.

In his inauguration remarks last week, Mr. Tsonos thanked State Treasurer Seth Magaziner “for his role in the infrastructure function” as well as the roles of the General Assembly and the City Council in the funding process. “And I gave the greatest thanks go to the voters of the City of East Providence, who overwhelming passed the referenda item. To them, I have enormous gratitude,” he added.

The building of a new EPHS is a huge undertaking for the city, the committee and the administration of Schools Superintendent Kathryn Crowley, but one the chairman said can’t consume all of the oxygen in the room.

“No, it cannot,” Mr. Tsonos said, bluntly. “There are too many other things going on in our schools. We can’t afford for the new high school to soak up all of our energy. We’re going to continue to focus on our facilities, security, and policies. I think Karen Oliveira, being a former teacher, will bring a lot to that area, to policy. We can’t afford to stop everything for new high school. And I might add that’s why the state required us to put together five and 10- year plans for that very reason, so we aren’t ignoring other issues.

“But overall, as we start this new session the school department is in a good place, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.