EAST PROVIDENCE — The district will indeed extend its existing transportation pact for another year with an eye towards notable savings after the School Committee at a special session held Tuesday, June 25, approved a pair of measure on the topic.
At the board previous gathering two weeks prior, Director of Operations Diana Clarkin told the committee because of mandates associated with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act along with requirements by the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), the district had incurred significant increases in its transportation budget due to the three factors.
To address the situation, she recommended taking a deal being offered by the district’s current contractor, Ocean State Transit, to extend the contract between the parties that is scheduled to end in June 2020 by one year. Key to the extension, it repeals the three-percent annual increase included in the current pact, a savings of between $80,000-$85,000, Ms. Clarkin explained then.
In addition, the director recommended adding either one or two buses to the district’s fleet to meet the McKinney-Vento and ESSA dictates, which would actually save about $100,000. The committee approved that item in a separate vote last week.
Waddington projects
The committee backed a request to approve a bid of $38,800 for the replacement of ceiling tiles at Waddington Elementary School. The other bid received for the project was just over $46,000. The work includes installing new tiles in classrooms and the necessary demolition work.
Similarly, the committee supported a request to back a bid of $6,700 to replace ceiling tiles in Waddington’s all-purpose room. The only other bid for the project was $7,200. The cost of the project was reduced because district employees did the needed demolition.
District Director of Facilities Tony Feola told the committee work is expected to start second week of July and he said contractor expects it to be completed in about a month’s time, the second week of August. Of note as well, district employees will be installing new LED lighting in classrooms concurrently to ceiling project.
Attendance policy update
The committee gave the first of two necessary approvals to an amended attendance policy for the district, which was presented to the board by Ward 3 member Karen Oliveira.
Mrs. Oliveira said the new policy was determined after several meetings between the interested parties.
“We’ve taken a lot out of it and made it much more concise,” Mrs. Oliveira explained, adding it’s “in line with state requirements.”
She continued, “We did not address social probation issues. We will do it in a separate policy,” noting the group plans to seek more input from East Providence High School principal Shani Wallace and other principals before finalizing social probation guidelines.
“It’s pretty cut and dry. We’ve taken out a lot of redundancies,” Mrs. Oliveira added.
The attendance policy clarifies what is considered an absence, taking into account exceptions such as bereavements. Mrs. Oliveira said the state does not recognize the terms “excused or unexcused,” saying, “they just want to know how many days the child has been absent.”
Tardiness is also amended. If late, students in Kindergarten to fifth grade must be brought to school by a parent or guardian. Middle and high school students can arrive late with a note. The committee agreed, however, when a younger student appears at school, regardless of how they got there, they would be allowed in the building.
“K-5 must be escorted. We don’t kids walking to school alone. That’s a safety situation,” Mrs. Oliveira said.
All of the attendance changes will be included in revised handbooks to be given to students and parents at the start of the next term.
RMS intercom
A proposal to accept a bid to install a new intercom system at Riverside Middle School was tabled until the committee’s next meeting. Mr. Feola explained the elements included in the system, which will increased emergency and privacy communication components for staff at the school.
At-Large Committeeman Joel Monteiro expressed reservations about the long-range costs associated with maintaining the system once the initial five-year contract is finished, which could be $50,000 annually if all schools in the district were included.
Ward 2 Committeeman Tony Ferreira wondered about the potential disparity between schools down the line if one building had a superior system to the others.
The committee eventually coalesced around a decision to have Mr. Feola seek an itemized list of options with detailed costs of each from the proposed project bidder. The members agreed the matter is timely in nature, anticipating the project to be completed by the beginning of the 2019-20 term.
July meeting note
The committee’s next meeting takes place Tuesday, July 9. Board chairman Charlie Tsonos noted among the items on the agenda will be the first public hearing on the school department budget for the city’s 2019-20 fiscal year, which begins on November 1.