Dear Officials of the Rhode Island Department of Education and Providence Schools,

On December 12, 2022, families, teachers, and students at Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street learned that Providence Schools, under control of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), had decided to close our school at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street is the only district elementary school that serves the Washington Park community. It is also a neighborhood school; teachers collected data from all 279 of the school’s students and determined that 72.4% walk to school each day.

Although one of the “three pillars” of the Rhode Island Department of Education’s Turnaround Action Plan for Providence Schools is “transparent and authentic family and community engagement,” the decision to close Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street was made without any input from the school community. Officials from RIDE and PPSD have acknowledged that no meetings were held with the families, students, and teachers of Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street until after the closure decision was announced. The absence of community engagement in this decision sets a concerning precedent for future school decisions.

Families are deeply concerned about the impact that the major disruption associated with the school closure will have on our children’s academic achievement, social-emotional wellness, and physical safety—particularly since students already experienced so much disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After having no input into the decision to close our school, families were left feeling marginalized and disrespected. Many felt rushed to choose a new school for their children without having adequate information about our choices. One family, whose child is being sent to a school 0.8 miles from their home and will thus not qualify for bus transportation, was told the district was unsure of whether crossing guards would be available to keep their child safe while walking down a busy street to get to school. In the wake of the December school closure announcement, it seems that both families and district officials have been left scrambling to plan for the coming school year.

Since the district announced its decision to close the school, Providence Schools and RIDE officials have provided multiple justifications for the closure. However, upon closer examination, the official rationale for this school closure appears rife with incongruities.

Firstly, Providence Schools officials have said that they are prioritizing schools that have green space and have claimed that one reason for closing Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street is that it “has a very small amount of green space.” However, the school is located within a five-minute walk from Roger Williams Park, which includes 427 acres of green space.

Additionally, PPSD and RIDE officials have cited the poor condition of the building and the cost of repair as a justification for closing. However, the condition of the building is the direct result of planned disinvestment in the school. In 2017, Jacobs assessed Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street and calculated its facilities condition index (FCI) to be 59.26%—below the threshold of 65% after which repair is no longer considered cost effective. In the 2019 memorandum of agreement (MOA) on school construction, Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street was set to get $4,448,191. However, the 2021 and 2023 MOAs show that funding for school construction projects at Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street was slashed by $2,693,370. As a result of this disinvestment, Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street’s FCI increased from 59.26% in 2017 to 97.32% in 2022.

In contrast, in 2017, Vartan Gregorian Elementary had an FCI of 59.87%—nearly identical to that of Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street. In the 2019 MOA for school construction, Vartan was allotted $5,132,166, and this amount remained consistent through 2023. As a result, Vartan’s FCI improved from 59.87% in 2017 to 47% in 2022. Had Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street also received the full amount of school construction funding it was allotted in 2019, the building could have significantly improved just as Vartan did. Instead, it was defunded and neglected, and now the predictable deterioration of the building that resulted is being used to justify its closure.

Furthermore, RIDE officials have made apparently contradictory statements regarding the use of the FCI to inform school closure decisions. At the March 22nd House Education Committee Hearing on HR 5170, RIDE’s Chief Operating Officer, Mario Carreño, suggested that no further school construction investments should be made in Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street due to its FCI being greater than 65%. However, minutes later Carreño claimed “the data suggests…that Mt. Pleasant will be the biggest recipient” of the recently approved $125 million in school bonds. Mt. Pleasant has an FCI of 86.01%, according to Downes Construction’s 2022 assessment. Furthermore, the 2023 MOA shows that Robert F. Kennedy Elementary was allotted $4,609,008 for school construction despite its FCI being 103.43%. Carreño’s conflicting statements exemplify the apparently inconsistent and shifting nature of the official rationale for school closure.

Additionally, while state and district officials have publicly celebrated the $44 million school construction project at Spaziano Annex, families at Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street have felt hurt by this inequitable distribution of school funds. As the MOAs indicate, the massive construction projects at Spaziano Annex and other schools were made possible in part by defunding other schools, including Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street. Importantly, voters recently approved $125 million in school bonds, so there is funding available to invest in Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street while continuing projects at Spaziano Annex and other schools.

Given the total absence of community input into the decision to close Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street and the numerous apparent inconsistencies in PPSD and RIDE officials’ justifications for the closure of the school, we respectfully call on the Rhode Island Department of Education and Providence Schools to immediately stop the planned closure of Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street.

Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street has access to a wealth of resources—including a planetarium, a museum of natural history, a zoo, and 427 acres of green space—which make it unique in the Providence Schools portfolio. In calling on RIDE and PPSD to stop the closure of Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street, we hope to preserve Providence Schools’ students’ access to these incredible resources.

The community of Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street has spoken up again and again in defense of our neighborhood school. We urge you to heed our call, and we are confident that by listening to the community and collaborating together we can create a better future for our Providence Schools.

Respectfully,

The Organizing Committee to Save Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street, a coalition of families, educators & community members committed to public education.