Public schools are the foundation of our community. My child attends our local public schools because I choose to invest my time and my family’s future here. 

My first duty as a School Committee member would be to be a good steward of East Providence's public schools and ensure they have the support and accountability to ensure every student can thrive. 

Excellent Education:

• Support and retain teachers.  We have excellent teachers in East Providence, many of whom are residents themselves.  Teachers have the biggest school-based impact on student outcomes. 

• Raise reading proficiency by supporting policies and curricula that require phonics instruction and reading real books.  

• Improve high school graduation rate. 

• Prepare all students to attend higher education. 

  • • • Students should be able have choice and opportunity for self-determination after high school graduation. That includes attending university, community college, trade school or entering the work force with choices on how to pursue their career.   

• Promote Civics Education that includes media literacy, examining sources, and critical thinking.

• Pass policies for smart technology usage based on emerging research and best practice. 

  • • This could look like reducing classroom screen time in lower grades and non-academic screen time in all grades. 

• Support policies that promote more time outdoors. 

• Improve outcomes for students with disabilities, students of color and Multilingual Learners.

• Balance enrollment across the elementary schools to ensure no elementary schools are “single-track” (only one teacher per grade) because that limits teacher collaboration and special-ed inclusion. 

• Expand pre-K until we have universal availability for all four year-olds in the city. 

All children in the United States have the right to an education. Our schools must especially protect students and families whose rights are being limited at the federal level so students can show up and learn their best.

• Support continued improvement of our Special Education program. 

• Pass policies to protect and support students from immigrant families, regardless of documentation status.

• Strengthen and uphold existing policies that protect all students, regardless of their gender identity. Provide resources to teachers on how to better support their LGBTQIA students so all students can thrive and learn.

• Protect students' freedom to read books with characters from all different backgrounds and different life experiences and freedom to learn accurate civics and history. 

• Look for more community partnerships to provide wrap-around support for students, families and staff. Schools cannot afford to provide every support that children need, but they are a community hub to reach children in need.

• Increase transparency around the work of the School Committee. 

  • • • Get public School Committee meeting agendas to include the packet that the School Committee members recieve, including text of policies that are going to be considered 

      • Create a resource to help residents easily access information on our schools and what the school committee is doing. - In Progress -> Transparency Hub 

      • Publish a regular newsletter updating residents on school issues. 

• Increase opportunity for student input on district decisions. For example: look to add high school students to the school committee sub-committees. 

• Increase transportation accessibility across the city for students, most of whom cannot drive.  

  • • • Advocate for better bike and pedestrian infrastructure across the city.

      • Work with RIPTA to secure free bus passes for EPHS students who want them.

• Facilitate ways for parents and guardians of current students to attend more School Committee meetings.

  • • • Seek solutions for child-care during School Committee meetings.

      • Ensure meeting time is used efficiently

• Use the district staff survey and the EPEA staff survey to improve the experience of school department staff. 

• Implement office hours for residents, staff, and families to have a reliable time to talk with me.  

• Use School Committee meeting time as efficiently as possible to best use the time of district staff and make meetings more accessible to families. 

  • • • Current teachers and guardians of school-aged children cannot sit through a three hour meeting on a school night.  

• Focus on things within the purview of the school committee:

  • • • Budget

      • Policy

      • Monitoring progress on district priorities

Our schools are facing a budget deficit that is currently projected to reach $3.8 million by the end of the FY27. Read More Here. 

Most of the short-fall is due to increased operational costs like transportation, electricity, and health insurance premiums. These costs are not fully controllable by decisions that the district made.  What is controllable is accurate and transparent financial accounting. That has been lacking over the last several years. 

My priorities to address the school budget: 

1. Financial Transparency: 

• The district finance team needs to make an accurate financial status report the to school committee at each monthly meeting. 

• The school budget should be publicly posted in an easy-to-read manner so residents can stay up to date.

2. Cost Reduction:

• Streamline operations to reduce costs:

  • • Partner with other city agencies to share costs for purchasing, health insurance and staff like human resources and finance staff. 

    • More energy efficiency and transportation efficiency

• Ensure positions that directly support students, such as teachers, paraprofessionals and social workers, are funded. Spread out staff reductions and focus on non-classroom positions.    

• Close the Meadowcrest building once the Tiny Townies Pre-K moves to their new site.  This will reduce operational costs like heating, electricity, maintenance and cleaning.  

• Request an evaluation of all district high-cost ed-tech and consultant contracts to ensure that the products and services are high-quality, not redundant, and are successfully supporting student learning outcomes.

• Prioritize continued excellent staff retention to control hiring costs

  • • Ensure teacher pay and benefits stay competitive so that East Providence is a district of choice for educators. 

3. Increase Revenue within the District:

• Facilities rentals 

• Taking in more students from out-of-district where possible 

4. Increase Revenue through Advocacy: 

Push our state and city government to make choices to strengthen the school budget so we can continue to fully fund our schools: 

• Work with our state delegation to support a new Rhode Island Foundayion Blue Ribbon school funding formula recommendation that would move to state funding for many of the high and unpredictable costs of education: some transportation, old pension debt, and highly-specialized special ed. 

• Work with our state delegation to oppose school vouchers, which take public dollars out of public schools.  

• Advocate for thoughtful development to keep East Providence accessible for working families and long-term residents. Stable neighborhoods and strong public schools go hand-in-hand: 

  • • Housing security allows local students to stay in their neighborhood schools uninterrupted, creating better learning outcomes.

    • Our graduates should have realistic opportunities to remain in East Providence, buy homes, and raise their own families here.

    • Dropping school enrollment is one of the biggest crises our schools are facing locally.

      • • Welcoming new families creates a healthier tax base that protects long-time homeowners from sharp property tax increases.

        • Dropping enrollment leads to lower school funding from the state and hard decisions, like closing buildings or eliminating classes and laying off teachers.

        • Stabilizing student enrollment secures our fair share of state funding, ensuring our schools are fully resourced from all sources, not just from local property taxes.