Schools to change policy that automatically places teachers on leave

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The city's school system will revise a new policy that has led the district to automatically place many teachers on administrative leave as a precaution, the schools superintendent said Monday.

Going forward, the superintendent, Christopher N. Maher, will perform a cursory review of an allegation against a teacher before automatically placing a teacher on leave.

During this school year, the district has been automatically putting teachers on leave with no such review and turning information over to DCYF for investigation.

“There have been unintended consequences,” Maher said Monday.

Maher and School Board President Nicholas Hemond acknowledge that the situation has greatly altered the school environment. Many teachers are now fearful of touching a student, even in the most innocuous way, out of concern that it might result in an investigation.

One case that came up, said Hemond, involved a teacher who physically touched a student to prevent the young person from being hit by a door.

Under the new approach, Maher will not take up a full-blown investigation and DCYF will still receive notification.

Maher said he hopes the district can prevent situations where teachers are removed from classrooms unnecessarily.

Hemond said the superintendent will look at the nature of the information reported and focus on cases like the one involving the teacher and the door. DCYF will still receive information and notification but teachers will not be placed on administrative leave in such incidents.

Monday’s announcement grew out of an emergency meeting earlier on Monday between Mayor Jorge Elorza, Maher, and others, with the president of the Providence Teachers Union, Maribeth K. Calabro.

Calabro had called for the meeting, citing a climate of distrust in the schools.

“It’s a little scary to be in this situation,” Calabro said. “I have to be honest with you.”

Three teachers, all from the same middle school, were put on administrative leave Friday. As of Monday, a total of 16 staff members were on administrative leave.

Staff in the district feel pressure to be quite vigilant and diligent in reporting any observations regarding physical contact they see between other educators and students.

Earlier this year, a Kizirian Elementary School gym teacher was charged with five counts of second-degree child molestation.

Prosecutors said that the school district launched an investigation but police learned about the case a few days later from a parent and it was weeks before the district formally notified DCYF on July 5.

The school’s then-principal, Violet LeMar, was charged Aug. 22 with failing to report child abuse.

Also, in 2016, the General Assembly added language to the mandatory-reporting law that requires educators to report such allegations within 24 hours.

Critics say no one has clearly defined what a reasonable case of suspected abuse might be, leaving the schools to report cases that DCYF dismisses.

— mreynold@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7490

On Twitter: @mrkrynlds