Providence’s Central High School junior Milia Odom, left foreground, looks to hand a mic out at ‘Envisioning a Youth-Led Future,’ a community forum for high school students led by OurSchoolsPVD. At the podium is Nya Isom-Agazie, a junior at Providence Career and Technical Academy, discussing the history of the state takeover of Providence’s public schools. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
“Look around the room. I know you saw someone you haven’t spoken to before.”
It was after school, but Milia Odom, a junior at Providence’s Central High School, was giving her peers an assignment: Talk to a stranger.
“You have one minute to say ‘Hi’ to someone,” Odom said, before the greetings commenced.
But the theme Tuesday night at the Elmwood Community Center was not an awkward conversation but a difficult one: Providence high school students, activists and elected officials had gathered to discuss the state and the fate of Providence schools, which have been under state control for the past five years. Rather than the old adage of merely thinking of the children, this was an attempt at hearing them out.
The nearly three-hour event was hosted by OurSchoolsPVD, a coalition of youth-led activism organizations that formed in response to the 2019 state takeover. The coalition centers its activism on specific goals — like a push for more serious ethnic studies offerings in Providence schools — as well as three overarching themes: “Democracy, dollars and dignity.”
Odom presented alongside her fellow emcees: Nya Isom-Agazie, a junior at Providence Career and Technical Academy, and Julianna Espinal, a junior at Classical High School.
Event organizers plied students with dinner and bus fare to come out and break into small groups to share their views on a series of issues. Over plates of pad see ew, jalapeño chicken wings, eggplant and other delicacies served from a buffet of aluminum pans, students discussed their concerns about school, as well as their wishes for a better system.
For now, the status quo gives the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) control over the school department’s budget and ultimate approval on major changes like budget matters, personnel decisions and school governance. That means the Providence School Board acts in an almost purely symbolic way — as when it passed a resolution in August approving the end of the takeover. Less than a week later, RIDE Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green suggested extending the takeover for up to three more years. The Council on Elementary and Secondary Education agreed, and stamped to approve the commissioner’s choice.
OurSchoolsPVD wants to solicit public feedback to help shape the city’s Return to Local Control Plan. Staffers from Mayor Brett Smiley’s office attended the event and listened.
“Have you guys ever heard of the state takeover?” Odom asked the crowd. “I should see all your heads nodding. And we all know the state takeover is bad, right?”
After the state emerged victorious in a court case in November, the city settled to fulfill a $15 million debt to its schools — an expensive reminder for Mayor Smiley, who took office in 2023, along with City Council and taxpayers. As Smiley put it on Nov. 22: The city and its residents will have to “share this burden.”
‘Students are getting hurt’
Students got a history lesson that walked them through the takeover saga’s timeline and conditions. Student emcee Espinal said she is still hopeful the takeover could end before she leaves high school. She noted that Infante-Green has suggested the takeover could end early if enough positive change occurs in the school system.
“We’re not sure if she’s actually going to follow through with that,” Espinal said.
The Providence School Board, Espinal said, has shown greater “willingness to work with us [students], but because they don’t have that much power, it’s very symbolic.”
Come January, half the 10-member school board will be elected, and the other half will be appointed. The new hybrid model could be a chance for students to have their demands heard, Espinal said, especially if local control returns. Smiley’s office is still accepting applications for the five appointee slots until Friday, Nov. 13.
“Ultimately, students are getting hurt,” Espinal said. “This is a lifetime of subpar — not necessarily subpar education, but subpar treatment that we’re receiving on behalf of the school district. So I just think that if there’s a time to think about the kids, it’s now.”
Student emcees asked their peers to group together by the numbers on their name tags. The resulting breakout groups had two conversations — one on general feelings about school, the other on takeover-specific thoughts — and organizers wrote down the groups’ ideas on big pieces of paper. In between the two chats, students walked around the room and examined other students’ feedback, placing stickers next to the thoughts they found resonant.
Bus passes appeared in multiple groups’ lists. Providence high schoolers can receive Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) bus passes for free, but there’s a 1-mile minimum for eligibility. In other words, students who live just under a mile from their school would not be eligible.
Other concerns voiced in the first group conversation: A lack of engagement during class time, a need for more diverse teachers and occasionally, repairs for school building — with inferior heating or cramped hallways singled out as sources of lament.
When will state control ever end?
In the second group conversation, students discussed how the state funds Providence schools. Some hadn’t heard the news about the takeover’s extension. Other students didn’t know about the specific metrics of the Turnaround Action Plan, which is meant as the guiding document of the state takeover and has been updated several times since 2019.
“Disappointing! Confusing! Why?” were the bullet points on one group’s easel pad about what they learned about the extension. It was followed up by lines adding, “Seems like whatever’s gonna happen, will happen,” and “State listens to no one.”
OurSchoolsPVD organizers jotted down students’ ideas, which were also heard by more than a few elected officials, some of whom sat in the discussion groups. Providence City Council Councilors Helen Anthony, Juan Pichardo and Miguel Sanchez were present, as were Council President Rachel Miller and Chief of Staff June Rose. State Rep. David Morales, a Providence Democrat, and Providence School Board member Ty’Relle Stephens also attended.
“Students aren’t just numbers,” said one student as he presented his group’s list. “We’re people. We have feelings.” He got bashful at the resulting applause.
But how will those feelings translate into policy? Abeer Khatana, the director of policy in Mayor Smiley’s office, was on hand to observe and answer questions. The plan for local control has been in the works well ahead of the settlement news, and is expected to arrive in April 2025.
“We’re directly sharing with RIDE,” Khatana told one attendee who asked about the plan’s next steps. “But we’re also directly sharing with our communities.”
Khatana’s office is tasked with preparing the plan. But it’s the state education department and its K-12 council that will determine when the schools could return to local control.
Until then, Providence’s high school students will attend classes as usual, day in and day out. That may be easier said than done. After the first group conversations, when teens placed stickers next to other group’s ideas, the most popular idea was under a heading “Experience at school.”
The most relatable sentiment in the room, as the kids understood it, received 14 stickers: “Just trying to make it through the week.”
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