March 29, 2024

New Assistant Superintendent of Schools is Named

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The School Committee appointed a new Assistant Superintendent of Schools in October to fill a vacancy. Martin Middle School Principal Dr. Sandra Forand got the nod after starting the year at Martin. Dr. Forand was previously a teacher in the system and principal at Riverside Middle school before a recent stint as an administrator at the RI Department of Education. The trio of former Pawtucket school administrators who were hired to come to East Providence are all leaving or have left the district. Superintendent Kim Mercer is leaving in December or sooner, former Assistant Superintendent Julie Motta resigned months ago and Education Director Dawn August was effectively leaving as of early October also. With the "Pawtucket Connection" leaving the top East Providence school management, some have worried about a critical lack of leadership.

Chairman Charles Tsonos attempted to bring Dr. Forand to Central School Management about a month ago due to "a very short bench in administration." Although entering that meeting a month ago with an apparent majority of the committee in favor of the move, that support changed at the eleventh hour and Forand was not hired. However, Dr. Forand has now been hired but for the immediate future is still spending some time at Martin early in the day as Principal and then reporting to administration. The plan a month ago to put an interim principal at Martin has not been revisited. "We have many issues facing our school department and we have very few people left at central administration," said Tsonos. "We need to do this (hiring) right away."

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