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More trouble at top at School for Deaf | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal
Tensions at the state-run Rhode Island School for the Deaf, which has been plagued for several years by conflicts among faculty and administrators, were exposed again last week at a public meeting when teachers said they were unhappy with the school’s leadership.
The teachers union voted no confidence in Director Lori Dunsmore last week, union president Dinaz Adenwalla reported at the school trustees’ meeting on Oct. 14.
Teachers specifically cited a break that occurred during school hours on Oct. 9 as a main cause of concern. Unidentified youths broke in through a back door before a janitor saw them. The young people fled the building, on Corliss Park in the city’s North End.
No damage was done and no one was injured, but some teachers felt Dunsmore failed to promptly inform them about the incident, and they questioned the school’s ability to respond appropriately to an emergency, according to a letter read aloud by a union representative at the meeting. The trustees act like a school committee and oversee the running of the school, which serves about 105 students between the ages of 3 and 21.
Dunsmore said she and her administrative team were investigating the incident and the way it was handled. She said she planned to have more information for the faculty and the trustees in the next several weeks.
The no-confidence vote by the faculty is the latest example of a fractured relationship between faculty and administration at the 132-year-old school, which is facing several challenges. These include low test scores; lagging efforts to align coursework with the state’s more rigorous high school graduation standards; and a deteriorating building that is ill-suited to educating students with hearing impairments and other problems.
Many of the School for the Deaf students have more than one learning disability in addition to deafness and 70 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunches because of low family income. In addition, many students come from homes where the parents’ primary language is not English. The majority of students come from Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls, Cranston and Warwick.
Leadership at the school has been rocky in recent years.
Dunsmore, who was hired last year, is the school’s fourth director in seven years. Last spring, the former trustee chairman, Marc Gursky, abruptly resigned without explanation a few months after the faculty voted no confidence in him, and a board member stepped down. The board has struggled to fill its nine seats, and currently has eight members, said Chairman Travis Zellner.
While school leaders grapple with strengthening the academic program and communication among faculty, administration and parents, one aspect of the School for the Deaf’s improvement plan appears to be on track: building a $31.3-million replacement for the old school building. Bids to construct a 70,000-square-foot school near the current building are due next week, and construction should begin around Thanksgiving, said Arn Lisnoff, chief property manager for the state Department of Administration.
Yesterday, the State Properties Committee approved a proposal to allow the School for the Deaf to rent temporary quarters for the 2009-10 school year so the current school building can be demolished.
Lisnoff said the state will save between $200,000 and $400,000 by renting, as it allows construction and demolition to move at a faster pace. If students are kept at the Corliss Park location, demolition would have to be done during a 45-day span next summer, which would be difficult, Lisnoff said.
Several sites will be considered, including vacant public or parochial schools. School officials say they hope to open the new building in September 2010.
Tensions at the state-run Rhode Island School for the Deaf, which has been plagued for several years by conflicts among faculty and administrators, were exposed again last week at a public meeting when teachers said they were unhappy with the school’s leadership.
The teachers union voted no confidence in Director Lori Dunsmore last week, union president Dinaz Adenwalla reported at the school trustees’ meeting on Oct. 14.
Teachers specifically cited a break that occurred during school hours on Oct. 9 as a main cause of concern. Unidentified youths broke in through a back door before a janitor saw them. The young people fled the building, on Corliss Park in the city’s North End.
No damage was done and no one was injured, but some teachers felt Dunsmore failed to promptly inform them about the incident, and they questioned the school’s ability to respond appropriately to an emergency, according to a letter read aloud by a union representative at the meeting. The trustees act like a school committee and oversee the running of the school, which serves about 105 students between the ages of 3 and 21.
Dunsmore said she and her administrative team were investigating the incident and the way it was handled. She said she planned to have more information for the faculty and the trustees in the next several weeks.
The no-confidence vote by the faculty is the latest example of a fractured relationship between faculty and administration at the 132-year-old school, which is facing several challenges. These include low test scores; lagging efforts to align coursework with the state’s more rigorous high school graduation standards; and a deteriorating building that is ill-suited to educating students with hearing impairments and other problems.
Many of the School for the Deaf students have more than one learning disability in addition to deafness and 70 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunches because of low family income. In addition, many students come from homes where the parents’ primary language is not English. The majority of students come from Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls, Cranston and Warwick.
Leadership at the school has been rocky in recent years.
Dunsmore, who was hired last year, is the school’s fourth director in seven years. Last spring, the former trustee chairman, Marc Gursky, abruptly resigned without explanation a few months after the faculty voted no confidence in him, and a board member stepped down. The board has struggled to fill its nine seats, and currently has eight members, said Chairman Travis Zellner.
While school leaders grapple with strengthening the academic program and communication among faculty, administration and parents, one aspect of the School for the Deaf’s improvement plan appears to be on track: building a $31.3-million replacement for the old school building. Bids to construct a 70,000-square-foot school near the current building are due next week, and construction should begin around Thanksgiving, said Arn Lisnoff, chief property manager for the state Department of Administration.
Yesterday, the State Properties Committee approved a proposal to allow the School for the Deaf to rent temporary quarters for the 2009-10 school year so the current school building can be demolished.
Lisnoff said the state will save between $200,000 and $400,000 by renting, as it allows construction and demolition to move at a faster pace. If students are kept at the Corliss Park location, demolition would have to be done during a 45-day span next summer, which would be difficult, Lisnoff said.
Several sites will be considered, including vacant public or parochial schools. School officials say they hope to open the new building in September 2010.