Parent Complains To Budget Commission About Teacher Shortage

Complaint prompts invitation to School Committee to discuss communication with parents.

  Melissa Mello complained to the Budget Commission Thursday that her son, Alec, 15, has been sitting in geometry class at Woonsocket High School with a substitute teacher not trained in geometry since school began. "He has advised me that he is learning history in geometry class," Mello said. If her son has to have a substitute teacher, that person should at least be someone who can teach him what he needs to know, she said. Her complaint was delivered to the Budget Commission because, she said, the School Committee had directed her to the commissioners as the ones making financial decisions for the town.  Commission Chairman Bill Sequino told Mello that though the Commission does sign off on financial decisions, hiring teachers is still …

•  49 Comments
• Photos (1)

Budget Commission OKs New Principals

Donna Raptakis to head Pothier, Lisa Jacques for Coleman.

  The Woonsocket Budget Commission has approved the hiring of Donna Raptakis and Lisa Jacques as principals of Pothier Elementary and Coleman Elementary, respectively. The two $89,000 per year appointments were made by the Woonsocket School Committee early last week and approved by the Budget Commission during its Aug. 30 meeting. Raptakis, the former principal of Washington Oak School in Coventry, attended the Budget Commission meeting. "I'm looking forward to it," Raptakis said shortly before the Commission approved the School Committee's appointments. Jacques did not attend. "Dr. Raptakis comes to us with 28 years of excellence in teaching," said Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan. Raptakis was Washington Oak's principal for seven years. …

•  21 Comments
• Photos (2)

Butter Cup

10:33 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012

Great Ideas! I'm sure no teacher has EVER tried to get a child interested in school! I'm certain no effort has EVER been made by a teacher to figure out what drives and interests a child so that they will be excited and engaged in school activity! What happens when they have physical, mental or emotional abuse issues which they bring to school daily and a teacher must first work on these issues …   more ›

Budget Commission Beginning School, City Finance Merge Talks

Budget Commission hosted sit-down with School Committee last week.

  The Budget Commission and the School Committee met in an open session after their last meeting Aug. 23 to trade questions and information, including some preliminary talk about the possible consolidation of the city and school finance departments. That topic got started with Commission member Peder Schaefer's observation that, "You can help us by having high quality financial information." Commission member Dina Dutremble asked about the status of the Woonsocket School Department's search for a controller for the school's finance department. Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan said the department had been close to a finalist for the position, but the individual seemed concerned about the job, and backed out. "We had to re-post that position…

•  19 Comments
• Photos (2)

XBOXONE RULES

11:20 pm on Sunday, September 2, 2012

yeah waiting to reintroduce the supplemental tax bill in Febuary when GA reopens for session   more ›

Budget Commission Hears Comments, Update On Closing Fifth Avenue School

Superintendent: Only Fifth Avenue students sent to Coleman, Globe will take a bus.

  The Woonsocket Budget Commisson heard from two employees of Fifth Avenue School on its closing Thursday, one complimentary and one critical, neither of whom have been offered jobs this year. During the public comment portion of the agenda, Fifth Avenue paraprofessional teacher Mike Davis told the Commission that closing the school and sending students to the other city schools was the "best thing we could have done for these children." Globe Park and Harris Schools, he said, are more up to date, including computer labs and "computers that actually work". Davis mentioned, however, that he still didn't know if he had a job at one of the city's other schools. "Could we please get an update on the paraprofessionals..." he asked, adding, "I'm…

•  9 Comments
• Photos (2)

Budget Commission Tells Lawyers To Hold School Committee Appeal Of Funding Suit Dismissal

Panel questions Superintendent on timing of bus contract notice.

Woonsocket's Budget Commission voted today to tell the School Committee's lawyers to hold off on an appeal of the dismissal of their suit against the state for a more equitable funding formula. The suit, Woonsocket School Committee, et al v. The Honorable Lincoln Chafee, et al, alleges the General Assembly has failed to provide adequate funding to meet obligations they've mandated during the last 15 years. In July, Superior Court Associate Justice Netti C. Vogel upheld the constitutionality of the state funding formula in the decision without taking on the question of the fairness of state aid distribution to urban communities, stating it is not the court's place to intervene in General Assembly actions. Chairman Bill Sequino suggested …

•  27 Comments
• Photos (1)

Rene M. Lafayette

11:29 am on Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Gentlemen (David T and russell archambault), sorry about my delay in responding, I have been off "The Patch" for a few weeks. (Sounds like a nicotine issue doesn't it?) First, David, I think your comments are spot on, however, moving ahead, the "city" side needs to take responsibility for the entire picture of the city's finances. Russell, I used the model of Leominster, MA and other communities …   more ›

Budget Commission OKs Posting Curriculum Director, School Department Positions

Thursday vote opposes School Committee decision on deputy superintendent issue.

  The Woonsocket Budget Commission voted to allow the School Department to advertise a deputy superintendent position today, a day after the School Committee voted against staffing the position. This afternoon only Commission members Chairman Bill Sequino, Mayor Leo Fontaine, and Council President John Ward were present, but there were enough members for a quorum. All three voted to approve advertising for the post, along with several others requested by Carolyn Dias, RIDE's chief of fiscal integrity and efficiencies. Dias told the Budget Commission the school department needed the position to handle curriculum, bringing the district in line with the Common Core Curriculum standards RIDE has set a 2014 deadline to meet. "We need it. It's a…

•  26 Comments
• Photos (1)

Steve

10:28 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A major increase compared to other districts' spending, however, was shown in the area of special education. Woonsocket spends a whooping 29 percent of its budget on special education, compared with the 22 percent spent statewide. With an additional 2 percent dedicated to career and technical education, that leaves only around 59 percent of the district budget for general education. Statewide, 66…   more ›

Letters To the Editor

Woonsocket School Committee Chair: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Anita McGuire-Forcier: Committee members playing political games Instead of working to fix school department budget.

  A resolution to change our by-laws in order to oust the chairperson by a majority vote instead of a super majority clearly shows that we are witnessing a political game.  This change will mean the school committee can play musical chairs.  So, the chairperson and or vice-chairperson will need to go along to get along or they will be voted out. If a member wants to control the agenda, he/she doesn’t need to be the chairperson; all they need is two votes of support and put their ideas on the agenda in order to get their way. Why is this political power play necessary? It is not. Let me remind everyone of what the Woonsocket Education Department has been faced with in 2012.  Our finance department was completely in disarray.  Nobody, not …

•  68 Comments
• Photos (1)

russell archambault

2:44 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012

Leaving no child behind, is a cute phrase.The problem is the system forces to push the child ahead without a proper education.Beleive it or not i wouldnt blame the teachers. Try looking at who,s fault it really is. If a child cant read or write properly or do simple math or simple other task, try asking how long the mother or father,if you can find him, how long they spend with the child after …   more ›

School Committee Votes To Allow Reorganization On Majority Vote

Chairwoman Anita McGuire-Forcier tells fellow members to "grow up."

  School Committee Vice Chair Vimala D. Phongsavanh said Wednesday she's interested in taking over as chair of the board if Chair Anita McGuire-Forcier is voted out. After the Woonsocket School Committee voted to allow reorganization at any time on a majority vote during Wednesday's meeting, that seems likely. The Woonsocket Budget Commission was seeking legal advice on whether they had the authority to block the re-organization, but did not take action on the matter this week. Two votes during the School Committee's next meeting, one to re-organize, another to elect a new chair, are required to name a new chair, said McGuire-Forcier. She said both could happen during the same meeting. Audio of the meeting can be reviewed at Mywoonsocket.…

•  65 Comments
• Photos (2)

DonQ

6:37 pm on Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Also keep in mind that Vimala was the lone vote against asking the state to take over the Woonsocket School System. As I have stated before, I am firmly convinced the Vimala and John Ward know that the deficit was caused by more than poor financial management. They have just been fighting too hard to prevent an outside investigation. II also feel very confident that Marc Dubois ghad a huge hand …   more ›

Budget Commission Considers Blocking Reorganization Of School Committee

E-mail memo from Committeeman Chris Roberts warns move could disrupt efforts to solve deficits.

  Budget Commission members are waiting on the advice of the state Revenue Department's legal counsel on whether they're able to stop a move to re-organize the School Committee. The issue was raised by a June 22 e-mail memo to the Commission from School Committeeman Chris Roberts about an item on the school board's Wednesday agenda to modify bylaws to allow a non-election related reorganization of the board. The effort, Roberts wrote, has, "...the ultimate end goal presumptively the election of a new Chair (currently Anita Forcier-McGuire) and/or Vice Chair (currently Vimala Phongsavanh)." In regular times, Roberts wrote, such a change might be appropriate, but given the fiscal oversight of the Budget Commission and the city's struggle to …

•  66 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

Jerry

10:37 am on Sunday, July 1, 2012

Robert, my comments weren't sour, they were the truth, maybe you should do some research and realize you don't know what you are ever talking about. YOu protect the WED like they've done no wrong. Do your math if you can.   more ›

School Committee Still Working On Draft Budget

Members sorted though line items totaling at least $66 million Monday.

The Woonsocket School Committee was still sorting though a byzantine draft budget Monday night line by line, with no estimate on when they'd finish. "This still needs a lot more work," said School Committee Chair Anita Forcier-Mcguire.  The Committee began with $64 million on Saturday, adding, among other expenses, a $550,000 line item for the capital budget and two $89,000 school principal positions. On Monday, the Committee continued to add to the request, with the biggest line item a $1.4 million expense for retirement funding. Those additions alone would put the budget request at $66,128,000, but Forcier-McGuire and Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan wouldn't estimate the final figure, insisting that the draft budget was still a work in …

•  11 Comments
• Photos (2)

Rob Borkowski

8:17 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012

brendalee hartland mcgovern - I actually selected Byzantine intending this meaning: "5. ( sometimes lowercase ) complex or intricate: a deal requiring Byzantine financing."   more ›