Report of the Subcommittee on Administration, Transportation and Budget

    Desegregation Task Force, Providence School Department 

“ 

REPORT OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION, 
TRANSPORTATION AND BUDGET 

May 6, 1991 

Anthony D. Affigne (Chairman), Parent 
Arthur M. Zarrella, Acting Superintendent 
Rita Williams, Councilwoman 
Lummer Jennings, Principal, Mary Fogarty Elementary School 
Robert Lee, Principal, Nathan Bishop Middle School 
Carol Hill, Teacher, Mary Fogarty Elementary School 

 



  

Adminisirotifgy Transportation and Budget Subcommittee § FNAL REPORT 

Summary 

In our review of School Department activities and student assignments, we have found that in 
every case, those features demonstrate visible patterns of racial segregation. Only a major 
restructuring of the Department's educational programs can bring about the dramatic changes 
necessary to rectify this longstanding problem. 

To that end, our report recommends fundamentally new ways of determining student 
assignments, administering educational programs, and involving the community in school 
policy-making. While it may be possible to correct the most glaring instances of racial 
segregation with less sweeping reforms, we strongly encourage the Department to go beyond 
such a minimal approach, which would leave unanswered many of the problems identified in 
our study. 

These proposals were discussed at length by the Subcommittee—some over several meetings— 
and are the unanimous recommendations of the five members present at our final meeting on 
May 2. (Acting Superintendent Arthiir Zarrella was not present for that meeting and 
discussion of several late recommendations; he was an active member of the Subcommittee 
during its earlier meetings.) 

Controlled Choice 

We propose the use of controlled choice student assignment techniques, in which parents are 
allowed to rank-order school preferences, based on significantly greater awareness of special 
programs and activities at individual schools; constrained only by the need to maintain racial 
balances in all schools, these choices are accomodated by school officials. 

Administration and Community Involvement 

This overall system will be administered by a six-person Desegregation Office, with final 
responsibility for student assignment, parent and faculty relations, transportation and program 
development. (We have not considered and do not recommend specific academic programs, as 
those are to be reported from another of the Task Force’s subcommittees). 

Three formal, permanent advisory boards for the overall desegregation process, for affirmative 
action in faculty and administrative hiring, and for bilingual/ESL programs, are proposed. It 
is our view that the most difficult phase of a successful desegregation effort, and the one 
requiring the most careful attention to community participation, is the period of program 
implementation. Thus, we recognize the need to formalize community involvement on an 
ongoing basis, following the dissolution of the Desegregation Task Force. 

To protect the civil rights of individual students, we propose the establishment of a simple and 
clear grievance procedure for parents and students, in which the current building-based review 
would be supplemented with a three-person appeals board drawn from the membership of the 
Desegregation Advisory Board, including one teacher, one parent, one administrator. 

May 6, 1991 Page 2 

 



  

AdministratidfTransportation and Budget Subcommittee @:va REPORT 

Budget 

We propose to end busing of private and parochial school students when that transportation is 
not required by state law. In these lean times, such a major subsidy for non-public schools 
should be reallocated to desegregating and fully supporting the public schools. 

We recommend that the School Department and City Council seek a supplemental state 
appropriation to assist in funding the implementation years of this desegregation intitiative. 

We propose a review of current administrative assignments, to find cost savings through 
reassignments or reductions, as required to fully staff the Desegregation Office. 

Programming 

Following the recent tragic shooting incident at Central High School, the Department 

recognized the need for multicultural awareness and sensitivity programming as part of the 
schools’ regular activities. In our view, such creative and positive efforts to bridge racial and 
ethnic prejudices are essential to the success of the desegregation plan, and should be made a 
permanent part of the schools’ curricula. 

Because existing “magnet” programs are only slightly better integrated than the schools where 
they are located, we recommend that a 
magnet programs be conducted, and that appropriate programmatic as well as student 
assignment changes be made. 

Transportation and Student Assignment 

To facilitate continued compliance with desegregation mandates, while fostering parent 
involvement, we have recommended that the plan adopt a minimum-transit busing system, so 
that whenever possible, enrollment overages are assigned to the next adjacent school. Blending 
such a transportation plan with choice mechanisms would require that similar, complementary 
or overlapping programs be located in neighboring schools. 

  

We propose a centralized Intake Center, with decentralized Parent Information Centers. At the 
Intake Center students and parents will find timely and accurate information about program 
availability; diagnostic testing as required; and all necessary registration materials. Parent 
Information Packets in all public schools and cooperating neighborhood agencies, printed in 
appropriate languages, would contain program information and registration forms. Such a 
parent-driven system would require much better coordination than we see today between the 
various special program staffs, the transportation office, the data center, and all others involved 
in student assignment and counseling decisions. 

May 6, 1991 Page 3 

 



    

i Administration @ansportation and Budget Subcommittee @ REPORT 

Existing Patterns of Racial Segregation in Providence Schools 

School populations and student assignments 

e While only one-third of the city’s public school students are white, five elementary 

schools, two middle schools and one high school have white student enrollments of between 51% 

and 71%, a continuing violation of state requirements that individual schools deviate from the 

systemwide racial balance by no more than 15%. 

e At the same time five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools have 

minority student enrollments of between 81% and 96%, reflecting an equally illegal 

concentration of minority students. 

Auxiliary curricula 

e The Department's auxiliary curricula—including programs for “gifted” children, 

classes for students of limited English proficiency, self-contained classrooms for students with 

handicaps, and the college preparatory high school—all show similar patterns of segregated 

assignments, based, in our view, on racially discriminatory entrance and placement 

standards. 

Gifted programs are predominantly composed of white students, suggesting that 

admissions requirements are either racially biased or simply ineffective, unable to identify 

academic promise and creativity among the beautiful and talented children of our minority 

communities. 

e The bilingual/ESL program concentrates large numbers of limited English students in a 

handful of schools, and then in many cases, segregates those students in separate areas and 

curricula within the school buildings. 

e At all grade levels—from kindergarten to high school—Latino and Asian students are 

underrepresented in classrooms serving students with learning and emotional disabilities; this 

suggests very strongly that diagnostic personnel and procedures are failing to identify students 

whose handicaps would qualify them for intensive services mandated by the federal 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

e Furthermore, at the middle school level there are no bilingual special education 

classrooms at all, meaning that adolescent students of limited English proficiency whose 

handicaps have been identified face a double discrimination, forced into English-language 

classrooms with inaccurate and inadequate individual education programs, denied the 

appropriate education mandated by federal law. 

e At Classical High School, home to the city’s college preparatory program, a combination 

of informal admissions procedures and a standardized entrance exam (administered in 

English only), typify policies whose impact has been to preserve a predominantly white student 

body—in a citywide school population increasingly composed of minority students. In fact, 

Classical appears to enroll significant numbers of white students whose prior educational 

placements have been in either private or parochial schools, so that both the socioeconomic and 

racial profile of the Classical student population differs markedly from the rest of the system. 

May 6, 1991 
Page 4 

 



tration, Transportation and Budget Subcommittee 

anise . 
U 

   FINAL REPORT 

gducational staff 

Faculty 

Only 138 of the Department’ 

are African-American, 25 are Latino, 
American. Thirty-five minority teachers were recently hired, of wh 

hotices for the coming school year. 

s nearly 1300 teachers are minority—about 10%. Of these, 103 

8 ‘are Asian- (including Filipino), and 2 are Native- 

om 27 have received layoff 

School Administration 

e There are three African-American principals, and one Latino principal, in the 

Department’s 34 schools. Two assistant principals are African-American. None of the 

Department’s senior building administrators are Asian- or Native-American. Both of the 

Black assistant principals are likely to be laid off in the current year’s budget cuts. 

Central Administration 

e The Department has only two Black administrators in the central office (one director 

and one supervisor), and none who are Latino, Asian, or Native. The Department's EEO/AA 

officer is Black. The Superintendent and all six Assistant Superintendents are white. 

Page 5 
May 6, 1991 

 



    mr stration, § and Budget Subcommittee - REPORT 
Adm    
Corrective Actions 

Recommendation 1: Controlled Choice Assignments 

To foster parent involvement while achieving racial balance 

Eastern and Western Elementary School Zones 
New feeder pattern/program choice combination for middle schools 
Program choice for high schools 
Sibling placement preference 
Proximity to home or employment preference 
Racial balance at school mandatory 
5% variances for individual population groups and majority/minority balance M

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Recommendation 2: Desegregation Office 

To implement and preserve effective racial integration 

The desegregation initiative will be administered by a new, six-person Desegregation Office, 
including one assistant superintendent-level chief administrator; three program officers for 
parent and faculty relations, desegregation programs, and informations systems; one general 
clerical; and one data systems clerical/technical. 

Chief Desegregation Officer 
Program Officer, Parent and Faculty Relations 
Program Officer, Desegregation Programs 
Program Officer, Information Systems 
Data Systems Clerical/Technical 
General Clerical/Technical OY

 
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Recommendation 3: School Desegregation Advisory Board 

To monitor and advise, for continued progress toward racially balanced schools & programs 

A 21-member Desegregation Advisory Committee will be formed. The Advisory Committee will 
meet monthly with the Desegretation Office staff, to assist in program and outreach planning, 
to convey public and faculty concerns to the administration, and to provide a public forum for 
complaints from parents, teachers, and other staff. The Committee will consist of 12 parents, 
including three regular education and one special education from each grade level; six 
teachers, two from each grade level; and three principals, one from each grade level. 
Appointments will be made by respective representative organizations (i.e., PTO’s, PAC-SE, 
and unions). 

1. Twenty-one members, two year terms 

Twelve parents, four each from elementary, middle, high schools 
At each level, one parent elected by PAC-SE, one by citywide parent groups, two by PTO’s 
Six teachers, two each from elementary, middle, high schools 
Teacher representatives elected by the bargaining unit 
Three building administrators, one each from elementary, middle, high schools 

May 6, 1991 Page 6 

 



    

   

; istration @ vortation and Budget Subcommittee 
® REPORT 

Adm? 

Building administrators elected by bargaining unit 

Desegregation administrators (4) ex-officio, non-voting 

Monthly, public meetings 

Elects own officers 

Sets own agenda 

Reports to Superintendent 

Access to all official documents and records (not individual student records) as needed 

Monitors progress toward full racial integration 

~ Recommends new programs and administrative procedures 

10. Reviews staff-initiated proposals for desegregation impacts 

11. Prepares annual report to School Board 

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Recommendation 4: Student Grievance Procedure 

To protect student civil rights, with a structured and accessible grievance process 

We propose the creation of a two-step racial discrimination grievance process, SO that aggrieved 

students and parents may file complaints about any individual instances of prejudicial 

treatment by school staff. Existing building-based procedures, centered on the building 

principal, will be retained. We propose the creation of a three-member Desegregation 

Grievance Board, from the membership of the Advisory Board, made up of one teacher, one 

parent, and one administrator. 

1. Two-step complaint process 

To building principal 

To Desegregation Grievance Board 

9 Three member Board, one teacher, one parent, one administrator 

3. All complaint forms in multiple languages 

Recommendation 5: Affirmative Action Monitoring Committee 

To monitor and advise, for significantly increased minority staff representation 

To assist and encourage continued integration of the city’s teaching faculty, a nine-member 

Affirmative Action Task Force will be formed. The Task Force will work with the 

Department's EEO/AA officer and other senior administrators, planning programs and 

procedures to significantly increase the Department’s complement of African-American, 

Latino, and Asian-American teachers. 

1. Nine members, two year terms 

Three minority teachers elected by bargaining unit 

Three minority parents elected by citywide parent groups 

Three minority administrators elected by bargaining unit 

2. Asst. Supt. for Personnel and EEO officer ex-officio, non-voting 

3. Monthly, public meetings 

4. Elects own officers 

5. Sets own agenda 

6. Reports to Superintendent 

7. Access to all official documents and records as needed 

8 Recommends annual hiring goals and appropriate recruitment strategies 

9. Monitors recruitment and hiring of educational staff 

10. Proposes short- and long-term plans to significantly increase minority staff 

May 6, 1991 
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sdministratioffFransportation and Budget Subcommittee @- val REPORT 

11. Prepares annual report to School Board 

Recommendation 6: Bilingual/ESL Monitoring Committe 

To monitor and advise, for effective education and full integration of limited English students 

1. Eighteen members, two year terms 
2. Twelve parents of students in L.E.P. classes (bilingual, ESL, transitional) 

Four each from elementary, middle, high school programs 
- At each level, three Latino and one Asian 
Parent representatives elected by program participant parents 

Six representatives of Latino and Asian agencies (e.g., HSSA, SEDC, HPEAC, RILAC) 

L.E.P. program administrators (4) ex-officio, non-voting 
Monthly, public meetings 
Elects own officers 
Sets own agenda 
Reports to Superintendent 

. Monitors progress toward L.E.P. student integration 
10. Recommends improvements to L.E.P. programs 
11. Reviews staff-initiated changes in programs 
12. Prepares annual report to School Board 

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Recommendation 7: Permanent Multicultural Programs 

To make interracial and intercultural understanding a permanent part of Providence education 

Non-curricular programs incorporated into the desegregation initiative will be conducted by 

school staff when appropriate, but more often will be contracted out to private agencies (as with 

the current “Heritage Panels” of the National Conference of Christians and Jews). This will 

allow the Desegregation Office staff to meet changing needs of the student population, with 

flexible and creative programming to promote intercultural awareness, interracial 

communication, and non-violent dispute resolution. 

Integration programming targeted at all elementary schools 
Multicultural awareness programming targeted at middle and high schools 

National Conference of Christians and Jews “Heritage Panels” extended to all grade levels 

Contract with outside agencies for assemblies, movies, workshops, puppet shows, etc. 

Assign projects to high school magnet students (Hope Arts & Communications) 
Identify “model” teachers and their approaches, foster replication 
Foster multicultural art, drama and music programming (challenge grants for teachers) M

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Recommendation 8: Restructured Magnet Programs 

To improve the effectiveness—for desegregation purposes—of existing magnet programs 

Our review of student enrollments and racial balances in the magnet programs indicates that 

as presently structured, these have had little positive desegregation effect. We propose a review 

of current magnet program themes and recruitment practices, to determine whether magnet 

program weaknesses are based on problems with programs, or with student assignment 

procedures. 

May 6, 1991 Page 8 

 



   
   

  

§nsoortation and Budget Subcommittee @ REPORT 

  

x ministration 

Recommendation 9: Minimum-Transit Busing 

To minimize transit time for youngsters and maximize potential parent involvement 

Wherever program options fail to sufficiently desegregate individual schools, or where 

program and school enrollment ceilings necessitate mandatory assignments, some inter- 

neighborhood transportation will be required. Wherever possible, transportation patterns for 

elementary and middle school students will emphasize placement in the next adjacent school 

building. The Department’s existing computerized student transportation system will be used to 

facilitate this type of planning, with the goal of minimizing the length of time younger students 

spend on buses. 

1 Use two elementary zones with duplicate programs, to minimize cross-town transit 

2. When possible, assign program overages to next adjacent school 

3. Plan special themes and magnets to overlap at adjacent schools 

Recommendation 10: Information Systems Coordination 

To provide efficient and timely information and registration services to students and families 

To make the most efficient use of Department resources, while still disseminating information 

as widely as possible, student intake and registration, language testing, and program referral 

will be located at a centralized Intake Center. At the same time, written program information 

and registration forms (in appropriate languages) will be distributed as packets, and made 

available at Parent Information Centers, located in all public schools and cooperating 

neighborhood agencies. School office staff and guidance counselors, as well as agency staff, 

will be briefed annually regarding these forms and the various program options. By 

centralizing all of the Department’s data systems, and making current information available 

at the Intake Center, students, parents, counselors and advocates will be guaranteed the most 

accurate and timely information possible. 

Parent information packets available at all schools and neighborhood agencies 

Annual briefing for school staff and agency personnel 

Registration forms in appropriate languages 

Central Intake Center for information, testing, placement 

Coordination of data center, student assignments, transportation, and registration FU
P 

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Recommendation 11: Supplemental State Appropriation 

With Rhode Island’s largest school system, and the state’s largest minority population, 

Providence and its schools receive special attention from the State Department of Education, in 

the areas of civil rights, vocational and special education, and demonstration programs. It 

should be recognized that achieving full school desegregation—ultimately a state 

responsibility—will require the commitment of state as well as city funds. While the current 

state budget problems make immediate state aid uncertain, we believe that Providence’s claim 

to supplemental funds for desegregation is a strong one, and we encourage the School Board 

and City Council to pursue the matter. 

May 6, 1991 Page 9 

 



   
    

  

iJ 

@ rotate” and Budget Subcommittee 
FINAL REPORT 

gion. 

mendation 12: Reduced Administrative Staff 

we see the need for an evaluation of 

Our review leads us to believe 

ducing administrative 

Reco™ 

To support some of th 

grrent administrativ
e assign 

that it 18 possible to achieve a 

staff. 

e costs of this desegregation plan, 

ments, for potential cost savings. 

dditional savings by reassigning or re 

Recommendation 13: End Private/Parochial Busing 

The largest immediate potential source of desegregation funds would be those dollars currently 

spent to transport students to private and parochial schools. Since in many cases this publicly- 

funded transportation is actually removing white students from the system, we believe a 

successful desegregation effort will require an end to the practice of busing students to non- 

public schools, where that busing is not required by state law. 

May 6, 1991 
Page 10