Department of Education commissioner comments on investigation into Providence graduation inflation

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of Education released the results of an investigation into allegations of students receiving inflated credits in Providence schools Wednesday, which found the allegations to be untrue.

Thursday, Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green commented on the findings, commending investigator Charles Ruggerio for his work.

“He interviewed more than 21 people,” Infante-Green said. “There were about 600 pages of documents that he went through so we feel very confident in Charlie Ruggerio’s work.”

Ruggerio, who serves as the Providence school district’s legal counsel, found the allegations brought forward by school board members to be unfounded, he wrote in his report.

Board members alleged the program was designed for over-age, under-credited students to gain the necessary credits to graduate from Mount Pleasant High School, and received grades that did not actually earn to inflate graduation rates.

Ruggerio’s investigation included reviewing hundreds of documents and interviewing nearly two dozen people before releasing the report of his findings Wednesday which said no factual basis was found for the allegations.

Infante-Green said when they were first made aware of the alleged grade inflation, the department acted quickly.

“We moved on it very quickly because we value the work that everyone does in our district and any allegations we take very seriously,” she said.