Providence schools in report revealed

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Much of Nataly Espinal’s family went to Nathanael Greene middle school.

She was shocked to hear it’s one of the schools Johns Hopkins researchers visited when compiling their scathing report on Providence Public Schools.

“Very surprised,” said Espinal. “Instead of going up, we’re going down. So that’s kind of disappointing.”

Johns Hopkins researchers visited 12 schools, including four elementary, four middle, and four high schools.

They are Gilbert Stuart Middle School, Martin Luther King Elementary School, Carl G. Lauro Elementary School, Nathanael Greene Middle School, E-Cubed Academy, DelSesto Middle School, Asa Messer Elementary School, Hope High School, Mt. Pleasant High School, Providence Career and Technical Academy, Roger Williams Middle School, and Pleasant View Elementary School.

Though we now know the names, Johns Hopkins will not confirm which schools match which descriptions in the report.

Researchers say the Rhode Island Department of Education gave them that list to visit, and it was representative of the district overall.

“We were satisfied that the list was a reasonable one,” said Dr. David Steiner of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. “And that looking at the variety of schools that we looked at gave us a fair cross–section of the district as a whole.”

One of the major issues identified in the report is deteriorating conditions in aging school buildings.

The city is planning to spend $20 million to start the most urgent repairs this summer.

“We could want to do everything, because everything needs to be done yesterday,” said Providence City Council President Sabina Matos. “Right now we just have to be realistic about the time frame we have, and what can be accomplished in this time frame.”

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