By Abbey Niezgoda
aniezgoda@abc6.com
16 Rhode Island schools are going under the microscope. A new report finds they have problems so serious, the state is going to step in to make them shape up. The majority of the schools are in the city of Providence.
A hot summer day is not usually a time to think about school, but when you find out that your 7-year-old attends one of the lowest ranked schools in the state, you cannot help it.
"That's a horrible thing," Cathy Garcia said. "I'm concerned because you want the best education for your kids."
Garcia's son goes to Bailey Elementary, which has been added to the state intervention list along with 11 others in Providence.
Officials are also stepping in to help at Henessey School in East Providence, Doctor M.G. Sullivan School in Newport, Calcutt Middle School in Central Falls and the Construction Career Academy in Cranston. They are in addition to the 13 other troubled schools who are already on the list.
"We're not doing enough, but a lot is being done," Deputy Education Commissioner David Abbott said.
The agency's latest report uses a new performance measuring system that Abbott says paints a better picture of where each school's weaknesses lie. He says the data will help them come up with a better plan to fix them.
"But you're dealing with kids in these schools and they can't wait," Abbott said.
They are kids like Cathy Garcia's. She says she has already put her son's name on a waiting list for a charter school that is 2 years long.
"You can't do anything about it now, but definitely when he gets to 2nd grade," Garcia said. "I want him in a charter."
All of the troubled schools will go through a screening and then come up with reform plans by the end of January.
For a complete list of the rankings: http://www.ride.ri.gov/
