Providence students take the microphone to talk about the state of their schools. City leaders are taking note.

Milia Odom, a junior at Central High School in Providence, foreground left, plans to pass out a microphone at “Envisioning a Youth-Led Future,” a community forum for high school students led by OurSchoolsPVD. On stage 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 talked to before.”

It was after school, but Milia Odom, a junior at Central High School in Providence, gave her peers an assignment: Talk to a stranger.

“You have one minute to say ‘hello’ to someone,” Odom said before the greetings began.

But the theme Tuesday night at the Elmwood Community Center wasn’t an uncomfortable conversation, but a difficult one: Providence high school students, activists and elected officials gathered to discuss the state and fate of Providence schools, which have been under state control in recent years stood. past five years. Instead of the old adage of just thinking about the kids, this was an effort to listen to them.

The almost three-hour event was organized by Our SchoolsPVDa coalition of youth-led activism organizations formed in response to the 2019 state takeover. The coalition focuses its activism on specific goals – such as a push for more serious ethnic studies offerings in Providence schools – and on 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 presented students with dinner and bus tickets to come out and break into small groups to share their views on a range of issues. Over plates of mushrooms, jalapeño chicken wings, eggplant and other treats served from a buffet of aluminum pans, students discussed their concerns about school, as well as their wishes for a better system.

The status quo for now gives the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has control over the school department budget and final approval of major changes such as budgetary matters, personnel decisions, and school governance. That means the Providence School Board is acting in an almost purely symbolic way — as it did when it a resolution in August approve the end of the takeover. Less than a week later, RIDE Commissioner Angélica proposed Infante-Green extension of the takeover a maximum of three more years. The Council for Primary and Secondary Education agreed and approved the commissioner’s choice.

OnzeSchoolsPVD wants to ask for public feedback to shape the city Return to the local control plan. Employees from Mayor Brett Smiley’s office attended the event and listened.

“Have you ever heard of the state takeover?” Odom asked the audience. “I should see all your heads nodding. And we all know the state takeover is bad, right?”

After the state emerged victorious in a lawsuit in November, the city decided to pay off a $15 million debt owed to its schools — an expensive memory for Mayor Smiley, who took office in 2023, along with the City Council and the taxpayers. If Smiley said it on November 22: The city and its residents will have to “share this burden.”

‘Students get hurt’

Students received a history lesson that guided them through the timeline and terms of the takeover saga. Student Espinal said she is still hopeful the takeover can 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 will actually follow through with that,” Espinal said.

The Providence School board has shown a greater willingness to work with us, according to Espinal [students]but because they don’t have that much power, it’s very symbolic.”

In January, half of the 10-member school board will be elected and the other half appointed. The new hybrid model could be an opportunity for students to make their demands heard, Espinal said, especially if local control returns. Smiley’s office is still there accepting applications for the five appointed slots until Friday, November 13.

“Ultimately, students get hurt,” Espinal said. “This is a lifetime of substandard — not necessarily substandard education, but substandard treatment that we receive on behalf of the school district. So I think if there’s a time to think about the kids, it’s now.”

Student emcees asked their peers to group themselves based on the numbers on their name tags. The resulting breakout groups had two conversations – one about general feelings about school, the other about readmission-specific thoughts – and the organizers wrote the groups’ ideas down on large pieces of paper. Between the two chats, students walked around the classroom and explored other students’ feedback, placing stickers next to the thoughts they resonated with.

Bus passes appeared in the lists of several groups. Providence high school students can receive the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA). bus pass freebut there is a 1 mile minimum to qualify. In other words, students who live less than a mile from their school are not eligible.

Other concerns raised in the first group discussion: a lack of engagement during class hours, a need for more diverse teachers and occasional repairs to school buildings – with poor heating or cramped hallways cited as sources of complaint.

When will state control ever end?

In the second group discussion, students discussed how the state funds Providence schools. Some had not yet heard the news about the extension of the takeover. Other students were unaware of the specific statistics of the Turnaround action planwhich is intended as a guideline for the state takeover and has been updated several times since 2019.

“Disappointing! Confusing! Why?” were the points on one group’s easel sheet about what they learned about the expansion. It was followed by lines adding: “It seems that whatever is going to happen, will happen” and “The state doesn’t listen to anyone .’

OurSchoolsPVD organizers wrote down students’ ideas, which were also heard by a number of elected officials, some of whom were in the discussion groups. Providence City Council members Helen Anthony, Juan Pichardo and Miguel Sanchez were in attendance, as were Council President Rachel Miller and Chief of Staff June Rose. State Rep. David Morales, a Democrat from Providence, and Providence School Board member Ty’Relle Stephens were also in attendance.

“Students are not just numbers,” said one student as he presented his group’s list. “We are people. We have feelings.” He was embarrassed by the subsequent applause.

But how will those feelings translate into policy? Abeer Khatana, the policy director for Mayor Smiley’s office, was on hand to observe and answer questions. The local control plan is in the works well in advance of the settlement news and is expected to arrive in April 2025.

“We are sharing this directly with RIDE,” Khatana told an attendee who asked about the plan’s next steps. “But we also share directly with our communities.”

Khatana’s office is in charge of drawing up the plan. But it is the state Education Department and the Board of Primary and Secondary Education that will determine when schools can return to local control.

Until then, Providence high school students will attend classes as usual, day in and day out. That may be easier said than done. After the initial group discussions, when teens placed stickers next to other groups’ ideas, the most popular idea was under the heading “Experience in School.”

The most recognizable sentiment in the room, as the children understood it, received fourteen stickers: “I’m just trying to get through the week.”

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