Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
R.I. School for Deaf names interim chair | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal
The board of trustees that oversees the state-run Rhode Island School for the Deaf appointed an interim chairman this week, but few details emerged about recent problems at the school, including the resignation of three board members and the firing of a school administrator.
School Director Lori Dunsmore, who was hired last fall, told an audience of about 20 teachers and parents that she, for legal reasons, could not comment on the dismissal of a former assistant finance director or the recent resignations of Chairman Marc Gursky, Karen Fifer Ferry and Mary E. Wambach.
Some teachers complained they were caught by surprise by the departures.
At Tuesday’s trustees meeting, Dunsmore and the trustees pledged to do a better job of communicating with teachers, parents and students in an attempt to relieve recent tensions at the school.
The board, which now has six members instead of nine, agreed to appoint trustee Travis Zellner as interim chairman Tuesday night until the three vacant spots are filled. The state education commissioner appoints trustees and selects the board’s chairperson, although recommendations from the deaf school community are taken into consideration, said Keith Oliveira, a coordinator at the Rhode Island Department of Education.
John Carty, president of the teachers’ union, questioned why school leaders have not been willing to discuss simmering tensions at the school. In January, the union took a no-confidence vote in Gursky, citing frustration over the way a handful of teachers were disciplined last fall. In addition, Dunsmore has said she wants to change the instructional practice at the school, including adapting curriculum to state standards and the new high school graduation system.
“We want to move forward,” Carty said at the meeting. “But there is a problem that exists and no one wants to talk about it, and that doesn’t make the problem go away. I’ve been here for half an hour and I still don’t know the answer to the question I asked a week ago, ‘Why did Marc Gursky resign, and is his resignation linked to the firing [of the assistant finance director]?’ ”
The board of trustees that oversees the state-run Rhode Island School for the Deaf appointed an interim chairman this week, but few details emerged about recent problems at the school, including the resignation of three board members and the firing of a school administrator.
School Director Lori Dunsmore, who was hired last fall, told an audience of about 20 teachers and parents that she, for legal reasons, could not comment on the dismissal of a former assistant finance director or the recent resignations of Chairman Marc Gursky, Karen Fifer Ferry and Mary E. Wambach.
Some teachers complained they were caught by surprise by the departures.
At Tuesday’s trustees meeting, Dunsmore and the trustees pledged to do a better job of communicating with teachers, parents and students in an attempt to relieve recent tensions at the school.
The board, which now has six members instead of nine, agreed to appoint trustee Travis Zellner as interim chairman Tuesday night until the three vacant spots are filled. The state education commissioner appoints trustees and selects the board’s chairperson, although recommendations from the deaf school community are taken into consideration, said Keith Oliveira, a coordinator at the Rhode Island Department of Education.
John Carty, president of the teachers’ union, questioned why school leaders have not been willing to discuss simmering tensions at the school. In January, the union took a no-confidence vote in Gursky, citing frustration over the way a handful of teachers were disciplined last fall. In addition, Dunsmore has said she wants to change the instructional practice at the school, including adapting curriculum to state standards and the new high school graduation system.
“We want to move forward,” Carty said at the meeting. “But there is a problem that exists and no one wants to talk about it, and that doesn’t make the problem go away. I’ve been here for half an hour and I still don’t know the answer to the question I asked a week ago, ‘Why did Marc Gursky resign, and is his resignation linked to the firing [of the assistant finance director]?’ ”