PAWTUCKET – The Pawtucket School Committee has asked its finance experts to research potential ways the School Department could help the city with its 2020-2021 budget deficit.
At their Jan. 28 meeting, members approved referring the matter to Supt. Cheryl McWilliams and Chief Financial Officer Melissa Devine for review, asking them to bring options back for the committee to consider at its second meeting in February.
Member Joanne Bonollo asked that a letter be sent to city officials confirming that school leaders are considering the request. She noted that the city had asked for a quick response. Member Joe Knight said the city shouldn’t have a problem dealing with getting an answer toward the end of February instead of the beginning.
January 13, 2021 12:51 pm
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) – The Pawtucket School Committee voted unanimously to keep most students remote for the rest of the year. Committee member’s decision overruled the Superintendent, who proposed a phased-back in approach and went against the Rhode Island Department of Education.
Pawtucket remains one of the only schools in the state to have not returned back to the classroom since the start of the school year.
Parents like Rayna Tomasian are outraged by the decision, saying they feel like parents were ignored.
Tomasian has her hands full with three kids: a 3-year-old, a pre-kindergartener, and a first grader. Her first grader, Alayna, says she is not a fan of working from home. She says she misses her friends and is having a tough time getting work done.
12/29/2020
COVID-19 impacted everything in Pawtucket in 2020
Nia Dacruz proudly showed off her diploma jacket after officially graduating from Tolman High School in June. She said she was happy to be able to walk across a stage for her graduation. Like at so many other schools, the students at Tolman were deprived of a normal high school graduation ceremony. The school recorded the graduates walking across the stage at McCoy Stadium as well as speeches to compile a full graduation video that aired on Capitol TV. (Breeze file photo by Charles Lawrence)
PAWTUCKET – There was no aspect of life in Pawtucket this year that hasn’t been touched in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic, from the lives lost or turned upside down by health scares to the financial impacts for residents and business owners.
PAWTUCKET – The former St. Leo the Great Elementary School, now the city-owned Pawtucket Annex, should eventually be converted into a state-of-the-art special needs campus, School Committee members agree.
The committee, despite some reservations, unanimously agreed at its Dec. 15 meeting to set the planned end use of the building, narrowing down the many options that have been discussed for the main building and recently acquired accompanying buildings on Central Avenue.
Chairman Jay Charbonneau said schools would be able to bring all students who are currently sent out of the district for services to a campus-like environment that meets all of their needs within city limits. Beyond the business rationale of saving on the $7 million or so spent in out-of-district tuitions, he said, it would benefit the schools’ most vulnerable population as the district widens the buildout of the properties.
PAWTUCKET – With a helping hand from new air purifiers delivered by the state, Pawtucket school officials have started the process toward a potential return to school beginning Jan. 19.
The School Committee, at its Dec. 15 meeting, unanimously approved a modified motion by Erin Dube to authorize Supt. Cheryl McWilliams to reposition students with the intent to bring back special needs populations on Jan. 19, with an evaluation on Jan. 11 on whether they can bring back more than that.
Dube had said she wasn’t quite comfortable with a motion from Joe Knight to approve the recommendation to start a phase-in plan on Jan. 19 for pre-kindergarten through grade 2, to be reconsidered on Jan. 11 if necessary.