Education commissioner goes off on Providence school board president for sharing confidential memo

Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green has a tentative plan to return control of Providence’s public schools to the capital city before the state’s presumed deadline of October 2027 — emphasis on tentative.

Providence School Board President Ty’Relle Stephens shared the apparently nonpublic plan with his mailing list at 4:55 p.m. Monday, packaging it with his statement claiming Infante-Green aimed for a date of June 30, 2027, but could allow the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to extend its control of the district indefinitely.  

“They should not have released that,” Infante-Green said in a radio interview with WPRO’s Gene Valicenti Tuesday morning. “We have not agreed to any of those things.”

Among the “things” included in the five-page memo written May 14 by RIDE’s general counsel to the school board’s attorney is a one-year transitional period in which the Providence School Board would regain its budget and policy-making powers. The education department, however, would retain the ability “to appoint, oversee, discipline and terminate” the Providence Public School District’s superintendent.

The memo further suggests that day-to-day decision-making of the district would continue to be handled by RIDE staff, and that the superintendent would report biweekly to RIDE.

During the transition year, the board would need to fulfill a checklist of to-do items including self-evaluations, monitoring and collecting community feedback, supporting and overseeing a plan to improve attendance, shaping the district budget, and other assorted duties.   

Stephens called the outline a “continued shifting of standards.” 

“At this stage, the direction being pursued appears increasingly erratic,” he said. “The commissioner appears unwilling to adhere to the direction communicated by senior state leadership regarding a meaningful transition to local control.”

Stephens prefaced his statement — which arrived on school board letterhead — with a note that he was speaking “solely in [his] individual capacity.”

In an email that included the statement and memo, Stephens said Infante-Green would present RIDE’s proposal, or a revised version of it, to the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education at its scheduled meeting May 26.

But RIDE spokesperson Victor Morente told Rhode Island Current on Tuesday nothing has yet been submitted to the council. He added that the memo shared by Stephens was supposed to be confidential as part of the ongoing negotiations between state and local school officials.

“The commissioner is still having conversations at this point,” Morente said in a phone interview.

Stephens said in an email to Rhode Island Current Tuesday afternoon that, in his understanding, the process of crafting guidelines was always supposed to play out in the open.   

“Board counsel communicated that point to RIDE on numerous occasions leading to this publication: if the Board was going to provide formal feedback, it had to do so publicly and collectively,” Stephens wrote. “My understanding is that this was acknowledged and understood during prior conversations with evidence [as] needed.” 

Sara Rapport, counsel for the school board, declined to comment when asked about the confidentiality of the memo.

“Any discussion regarding this question and related issues will take place during the Board meeting tomorrow night, at which I will be present,” Rapport said in an email to Rhode Island Current.

The state took over the Providence school system in 2019 after a Johns Hopkins University report documented systemic problems including infrastructure issues, low staff morale, and high levels of student disengagement. The takeover was originally set to expire in 2024, but the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education instead extended state control through October 2027. 

RIDE’s takeover could end sooner if grades, graduation rates and standardized test scores improve. The same year the oversight was extended, city and state officials concluded a funding dispute in court, with Providence on the hook for $15 million in funding to backfill deficits, plus two years’ worth of increased financial commitment.

Morente said the city’s financial commitment remains a key question on whether the state will end its takeover early since funding support is set to expire after fiscal year 2027.

“So beyond fiscal year 2027, there is no agreement from the city on what level they would fund schools,” Morente said.

Carl Austin Miller Grondin, a spokesperson for Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, noted the city last year increased its contribution to the schools by over $9 million, significantly more than the $3 million increase in 2024. 

“This funding is consistent with the settlement that covers this fiscal year as well and is subject to final state funding,” Miller Grondin said in an email. “Mayor Smiley has made clear that the City is ready and eager to manage Providence schools and looks forward to continuing this important and significant work in partnership with PPSD and RIDE. Any future years of funding would have to be approved by the City Council, as all finance are.”

Infante-Green promised Valicenti that Providence’s schools “eventually have to go back.” Gov. Dan McKee also appears on board — even if his office is deferring any ultimate decisions to RIDE.

“The Governor is pleased with the progress that has been made under the Commissioner’s leadership, and his administration will follow the Commissioner’s lead regarding any plan to return schools to local control,” Laura Hart, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, said in a statement.

Reporter Alexander Castro contributed to this story.