Tuesday, January 24, 2012

There Seems to be Some Confusion Over Who Will Be Attending the Grace School Academy

Mayor Taveras's cover letter: "306 students serving Providence and North Providence."
Mayor Charles Lombardi's cover letter: "local school districts, including Providence and North Providence,"
Cover sheet: "Multiple districts, including but not limited to Providence and North Providence."
John M. Kelly, cover letter: "students from local school districts, including Providence and North Providence"
John Galvin, Meeting Street Board of Directors, cover letter: "students from grades K-8 who live in Pawtucket and Providence."
Executive summary: "students from multiple school districts, including but not limited to Providence and North Providence."
"These students will attend school with approximately 54 students with severe and profound disabilities that come to Meeting Street from across Rhode Island as well as from nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut."
Statement of Need: Only covers Providence and North Providence.
Governance: Nothing about representation from other communities (RIGL 16-77.4-1.a: "such mayoral academies shall have a board of trustees or directors which is comprised of representatives from each included city or town").
"In terms of Board composition, the Board will be chaired by either the Mayor of Providence or the Mayor of North Providence. The Mayor of Providence will also appoint one designee to the Board and will be encouraged to make this designee his or her school superintendent. Five (5) Board members will be appointed by Meeting Street’s Board of Trustees. Grace School Academy Founders, a group of parents that have helped to create our inclusive model, will recommend three (3) parents to serve on the Grace School Academy Board of Directors, as well."
Student Enrollment and Demand: "The Grace School Academy will seek to attract a diverse student body from the communities of Providence and North Providence."
"All students who enter the lottery will have an equal chance of being selected and The Grace School Academy will abide by lottery rules and regulations and enrollment procedures. At the same time, we request that siblings of students, children of Founders, and children of staff have admission preference."
School Community:
"Given that Meeting Street’s school already draws from the surrounding community; we are confident that we will be able to increase the number of children from the South Providence neighborhood who enroll."
"Finally, Meeting Street has a long history of working in North Providence. Over the past decade, children of all ages and abilities have been served by Meeting Street in home, school, and community based settings."
Budget Narrative: "a minimum of 85% of students will reside in Providence"

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