Dear Mayor Laffey:

We would love to see you at the Cranston School Committee’s Budget Meeting on Monday, March 20 at Western Hills Middle School. An increasing number of Cranston parents have been attending these meetings, and walking away extremely frustrated every time.

The closing of Horton Elementary has galvanized parents–not just of Horton kids (mine goes to Edgewood-Highland), but from all the schools in the district. Parents and students at Rhodes Elementary are starting to get very nervous, since former School Superintendent Catherine Ciarlo recently mentioned Rhodes as being next “on the chopping block.” Given such cavalier plans (not to mention phrasing), Ms. Ciarlo’s rumored intention to run for the city-wide School Committee seat next year is frightening.

High-performing neighborhood schools are being closed, the kids dumped into schools that are already at capacity. Meanwhile administrative and teacher salaries continue to rise extravagantly, and the Construction Union’s Charter School continues to operate as an autonomous business, even though it’s funded by the Cranston School System. Three of the seven School Committee members have ties to the Board of Directors at the Charter School. That’s just for starters.

This is the part that seems crazy to us: From what we can tell, all the decisions are made by the same five members: Michael Traficante, Deborah Greifer, Anthony Lupino, Andrea Ianazzi, and Gordon Palumbo. We are heart-sick, watching committee members Steve Stycos and Paul Archetto, week after week, banging their two sensible heads against the brick wall that is the five-headed rest of the committee. Stycos and Archetto don’t agree on everything, but they are the only ones who have proposed adjustments that could save Horton and still provide for a realistic budget.

Monday’s meeting is open to the public. Please show your support for the children in Cranston and for education in general, by attending with us.

Thanks for all you do as Mayor. Good luck in your bid for U.S. Senate!

Best,
Vicky Wheeler, Cranston Parent
Norwood Ave 02905

This email came to me and I thought it would be good to post it since this meeting is just two working days away. This is where we are at here in Cranston — ground-zero education-wise. Parents of young children are fearful and angry. We are looking for ways to keep our high-performing elementary schools open. We need people in leadership roles to step up to the plate and help us.