Parents and teachers are livid over which students Providence targeted for summer school

PROVIDENCE — A Providence school administrator urged elementary school principals to recruit students for summer school who were relatively high-performing to boost school ratings, which are based in part on standardized test scores. 

An email sent April 14 by Patricia Royal in the School Department’s office of elementary transformation recommended that principals “choose students who are close to proficient (on standardized tests) and would benefit from the summer enrichment.” The Journal received a copy of the email Wednesday from the Providence Teachers Union.  

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Students recommended to avoid

The email also recommended that principals: 

• “Avoid attendance issue students because they will probably not attend ... and they need almost perfect attendance to be effectively engaged.”  

• “Avoid behavior issue students because they will see this as punishment.” 

• “Avoid students who have struggled academically due to lack of engagement.”  

The email concluded by saying, “We should focus on maximizing our efforts. If successful, and we target the right students, we could increase our proficiency levels which could impact our Star rating.”

Every public school in Rhode Island is rated on its academic performance, in addition to other measures such as attendance, with schools earning anywhere from one to five stars. 

Not approved by Providence school superintendent  

Providence school spokesman Nick Domings said, “The email in question was not reviewed or approved by the superintendent. He is personally following up with the author(s) of this email to discuss this issue.”

Domings said Supt. Javier Montanez sent out a message April 12 describing which elementary- and middle-school students would be targeted for summer learning programs. They are those who performed poorly on interim reading and math tests, among other indicators.      

State Sen. Lou DiPalma, chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee, which is reviewing the Providence schools’ takeover, said this approach isn’t helping those who need it the most. 

“It’s not very equitable,” he said Wednesday. “Those who need summer learning the most aren’t going to be included. When it talks about increasing proficiency levels and Star ratings, the emphasis is clearly on the wrong area. If my child was the one who really needed the help, my hair would be on fire.” 

Parents' reactions

Some parents were particularly disturbed by the language, which one called offensive and another called racist.

Ramona Santos Torres, the executive director of Parents Leading for Equity Education, said she was very upset by the language used to describe students. PLEE has been deeply involved in the Providence school’s turnaround efforts. 

“It’s very offensive to me,” she said. “What does that mean, behavior students? That’s the wrong approach when we have so many more important issues to focus on. I am deeply troubled and angry.” 

Chanda Womack, executive director of ARISE, a youth-empowerment organization, said the impact of the email is extremely harmful. 

“The directive further marginalizes the most vulnerable students,” she said. “It prioritizes test scores over the holistic health of our students. These types of programs are supposed to be recruiting students who really need to be reached. They are perpetuating racism with this narrative.” 

Womack said there is a larger issue at stake here: the emphasis on test scores. This isn’t about one person, she said. It’s about an educational ecosystem that devalues students.  

Gabe Mernoff, one of the founders of the Community First Coalition, said he was shocked at how explicit the language was about who should be recruited and who shouldn’t. The coalition formed this winter to call for more transparency in the superintendent search.  

“They need so badly to meet these testing measures that they have to exclude essentially the most marginalized kids,” he said.

Linda Borg covers education for The Journal.