Superintendent Dr. Sandra Forand sought and gained unanimous approval from the East Providence School Committee at the body's Tuesday night, March 12, meeting to upgrade the current role of Assistant Director of Pupil Personnel, in support of students with Special Needs, from a part-time to a full-time position.

The current holder of the position, Julian "Bud" MacDonnell, plans to step away from the role towards the end of the 2023-24 term on June 6. MacDonnell, who previously served as the lead director for some four years starting in 2015, has been employed in his existing capacity under current director Leslie Anderson, brought on board in late 2019.

In stating her case last Tuesday prior to the Committee's action at the conclusion of the meeting, Forand said the need to expand the position, in part, came from the addition in recent years of 75 students with IEPs (Individualized Educational Plans for pupils with identified learning impairments).

Forand said, among other aspects, the role currently entails facilitating the district's involvement in IEPs meeting when necessary, running the summer Extended School Year (ESY) program and mediation while dealing with parental and staffing issues for the some 1,100 students the Pupil Personnel division has oversight of.

"The needs of students in the district have really changed and are becoming greater," Forand explained, adding the uptick in responsibilities will also include serving as the point person of the Alternative Learning Plan (ALP) at East Providence High School as well as other programs and self-contained classrooms throughout the district.

The ALP is a state-mandated program aimed at assisting high schoolers in pursuit of a diploma and to decrease the number of withdrawals.

According to the Rhode Island Department of Education overview, ALPs "are documents that outline educational programming developed in collaboration between the student and other appropriate school personnel describing the services necessary to support a student in obtaining a Rhode Island high school diploma or its equivalent. The plan should be designed to provide an alternative, age-appropriate, rigorous and relevant educational program that allows the student to continue to work toward earning a high school diploma or its equivalent.

"ALPs are intended for students who are at high risk of dropping out of school, and have otherwise exhausted all other options of support and interventions available to them at their school and district of enrollment."

Forand said the fiscal impact of the amended position would be around $30,000 above the approximately $80,000 total expenditure. The superintendent said the state-wide average for similar roles is between $110,000-$120,000. Forand noted the position is paid for through the district's annual federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant.

"I see the position as being cost effective for the amount of time we're taking up and the amount of money it will cost," Forand added. "Every dollar, we're looking at, believe me. I want every dollar to go back to students. And I do believe this is a role that can support students and this is why I come to you with it...I take every dollar that we spend seriously. I'm looking at every position, whether we create new ones or add to ones, how it's going to benefit our students and how it's going to benefit and support our staff."

Finance update
Director of Finance Craig Enos informed the Committee the district was running about $100,000 in the black for the just completed 2022-23 Fiscal Year with some outstanding bills still needing to be processed. Enos initially told the body in October of last year, the last month on the city's fiscal calendar, that monies were tight and spending was being kept to a minimum.

In addition, Enos said the building sub-committee for the Martin Middle School and Waddington Elementary School renovation projects had, at its gathering the evening previous to last week's School Committee forum, approved the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) from contractor Shawmut for both.

As part of the MMS portion, the building group backed the reallocation of $745,112 from the owner's contingency fund, the district's set-aside source of monies, to cover anticipated overages to the so-called "hard cost" line item of the plan, which now is some $110,115,454. The entirety of the MMS project is set to cost about $117,685,680.

As well, Enos said the sub-group backed a previously negotiated contract for the Waddington portion, noting as well as that Matthew Abraham, of the district's owner project managerial firm the city-based Peregrine Group, will serve as the key point of contact (i.e. project manager) at the Riverside school. Abraham works in concert with lead Peregrine representative Anne DaSilva. The total cost of the Waddington portion, hard ($14,687,561) and soft costs combined, is $17,352,801

In follow-up remarks after the meeting, Enos said Abraham's role will commence when the Waddington project starts "in full force" at the conclusion of the current term in June.

Enos also reminded the community a formal "groundbreaking" ceremony for the MMS project, which is already well underway, takes place Tuesday morning, April 9, at 11 a.m. at the Brown Street site. The public is invited to attend.

Conduct policy
Forand and Ward 4 member Jessica Beauchaine led the Committee through a review of the most recent draft of the district's student Code of Conduct policy for all students.

The latest version was provided to the body for further review, comment and revision. The CoC was last amended in 2008. Beauchaine stressed the updates are being made to simply the language so students clearly understand what is expected of them and what are the repercussions for bad behavior.

Forand said a sub-committee comprised of staff district-wide was seated at the start of the current 2023-24 term to discussion and propose possible changes to the document. The superintendent said the initial update emanating from the group was the revised dress code the School Committee backed earlier this term.

Forand added the timeline for an undated and approved CoC is sometime in the next few months, saying "That's our goal, to have a new Code of Conduct in place and voted on (by the School Committee) before the next (2024-25) school year starts."

Bus stop appeal
Ward 1 member Ryan Queenan made an appeal to residents and motorists around the city to use heightened caution along bus routes across the city as East Providence contends with the ongoing issues associated with the Washington Bridge closure.

Queenan said, especially since the onset of the closure crisis in December of last year, there has been an increase in the times drivers are not abiding by mandates to come to a complete halt in both directs when busses stop to either pick up or drop off students in the mornings and afternoons.

"It's really crucial folks adhere to all traffic and safety laws out there," said Queenan. "I know that folks are feeling that their world is going really fast and are in a huge a rush, but I timed out a bus at a very busy intersection close to a major impacted street because of the bridge and it took it under 50 seconds to pick up over seven children in the morning. It is not a long time...It's an issue and it's being addressed."

Queenan mentioned the support he's received in his effort from Forand, fellow Ward 1 representative City Councilor Frank Rego, East Providence Police Department and the mayor's office.