March 28, 2024

EP City Council / School Committee Briefs:

Posted

By Bob Rodericks:

City Manager to Hire "Social Networker"

Acting City Manager, Paul Lemont has been authorized (unofficially) by the city council to hire a $35 to $40,000 per year social media position to help "show people the good things we are doing here." City Chief Information Officer, Kelly Ahrens told the city council in August that "...our website is outdated and not modern. We (the city) don't post anything that's going on. Our web site has no content," Ahrens continued. Ahrens said that the city is rolling out a new web site which will help get the city into the "next era." "We need a social media position in place to disclose city issues and help people find information easier," she added. Ahrens and the council plan on doing this by hiring a person to conduct social networking. "This will help with economic development. People and businesses find out about our city by what's on our web pages," said Ahrens. "We need to promote ourselves and have on line contacts with developers. This is how people find out about us, by twitter, Facebook, mobile apps, it's the 21st century," said Ahrens. Ward 4 council member Chrissy Rossi made a motion, seconded by Ward 3 councilman Tom Rose, to have the city manager advertise and hire a person. However, Mayor Jim Briden preferred to have the legal department check out the process first and balked at a council vote. "This should be subject to review of the legal department," said Briden. "I would like my motion to stand and be voted on," insisted Rossi but Lemont interjected and said he would get it done. "You don't need a vote," said Lemont. "I'll just hire someone and get it done. You have my word," he told Rossi and the other councilors. Indeed the city posted a notice on its' web page for an 'Online Content Developer' with a salary range of $36,000 - $43,000. The new employee will work "under the general supervision of the Chief Information Officer of the IT Division and create and posts content for the City of East Providence’s website and social media endeavors..." The job description can be found in its' entirety on the city's web site http://www.eastprovidence.com.

School Department Also Hiring

The school department has shifted some personnel and hired people in a few administrative changes. Former Riverside Middle school principal, Stephen Prew, will be the Director of a new program called the Accelerated Learning Community (ALC) based at East Providence High School. The program will work with a small number of students deemed at-risk for school failure. This new program is designed to improve graduation rates, affected significantly by the system's drop-out rate, according to school committee chairman Joel Monteiro. "While our students' test scores continue to do well, the graduation rate hurts our ranking with RIDE, and we would like to improve this. More importantly, we would like to see these students stay in school so that they can have more options in their future," said Monteiro. Prew will be assisted by Mr. David Britto. Britto is a former long time elementary school principal in the district who is returning from a sabbatical leave. "This will take some flexibility and drive from these two individuals to administer a successful program," added Monteiro.

The city's two middle schools, Martin and Riverside, will be facing some demographic and personnel changes also. "Our middle schools are now back to similar district lines as in the past, allowing us to have more students stay in their neighborhoods, and stay with their classmates," said Chairman Monteiro. "This is a work in progress, but I'm hopeful that we will gradually get things in the best possible alignment. There is no perfect solution, but we can work to achieve the most feasible," he said. There will be some administrative shuffling also. Dr. Cheri Guerra, formerly the Assistant Principal at Martin Middle School, is now the Principal at Riverside Middle School. Mrs. Elaine Allen, formerly the Principal at Oldham Elementary, is now the Assistant Principal at Martin. "Both of these professionals have had positive impacts on our children, and we expect to see more good things from them in their new roles," said Monteiro.

Orlo and Oldham elementary schools will also see new leadership. Mrs. Yanaiza Gallant is the newly hired principal at Orlo, replacing long time city principal Cheryl Gibbs. Mrs. Donna Peluso is the new Oldham school principal. "Both of these schools and communities have shown great spirit in the past, and have opened their arms to welcome these two new school leaders. We all look forward to seeing great things continue to come out of these schools as well," added Monteiro.

The adding of new principals while retaining administrators Prew, Britto and Gibbs would appear to add to the administrative budget. It is not clear if positions were posted and advertised with interviews or if appointments were made without doing so. "All of this has happened in a fairly short period of time, while construction projects continue to go on. As I stated, there have many things that we will all be adjusting to. In my opinion, this is very good. Progress begins with movement. We need to maintain our momentum, stay agile, flexible, and persistent to achieve our goals," said Chairman Monteiro in an interview with the Reporter. "So with your support, the School Committee is excited to kick off another school year, and is committed to doing our very best on behalf of our students and tax payers. We appreciate the suggestions and feedback along the way. If the children are supported at home, and then at school, they will be poised for success," added Monteiro.

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