Providence School Board meeting cancelation gets pushback from board president

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence School Board’s regular Wednesday meeting was canceled this week due to a precautionary early closing of the building.

Superintendent Dr. Javier Montanez decided to close the building after 5 p.m. due to the Brown University shooting, leading to the cancelation.

School board president Ty’Relle Stephens disagreed with the decision, and disputed the superintendent’s reasoning for the move.

According to a letter sent by President Stephens, Dr. Montanez cited the cancelation of “after school activities” in the wake of Saturday’s mass shooting.

Stephens said that the meeting does not qualify as an after school activity, and if students still must attend school, district personnel must also do their work.

Stephens also cited absentee rates of 20 percent and 16 percent on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The president hoped that holding Wednesday meeting as scheduled would help families feel safe sending their students to classes.

The meeting will be held at a new location and time, to be announced in the coming days.

When reached for comment on the matter, the Providence Public School District said in part:

As we announced on Wednesday, the decision to close the building was due to protocols that have been in place since Monday, where all after-school activities, events and meetings were canceled out of an abundance of caution. This decision has impacted other meetings like Tuesday’s School Building Committee meeting, which was also properly noticed and then canceled, once again, out of an abundance of caution.

Throughout the week, various after-hours public meetings, both at local and state level, have not been held to ensure the safety of all attendants. At this time, our collective focus should be on working together to ensure the safety and well-being of students, staff and the broader school community. These decisions were made with that responsibility in mind.