PAWTUCKET – The City Council voted 8-1 Monday to indefinitely postpone a resolution amending the Home Rule Charter to allow a hybrid school board made up of appointed and elected members.
Council President Mercer described the proposal to put the measure with safeguards before voters for them to decide as the definition of democracy, and not an attempt to take away anyone’s power.
After speaking with Mayor Donald Grebien Wednesday morning and hearing Grebien’s concerns, Mercer said he notified the mayor that he would be seeking a motion to postpone indefinitely, with an “eye toward resurrecting” the discussion next year. Mercer said this idea was perhaps a bit too rushed to get it done in time for this year’s ballot.
The council then voted to postpone, with Councilor Mark Wildenhain opposed. That was followed by lengthy testimony from the public opposing the idea, including from Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance President Ron Beaupre and others.
Additional details about Wednesday’s testimony will be reported later.
Here’s our original story before Wednesday’s meeting:
PAWTUCKET – In a move that’s drawn sharp opposition from current elected School Committee members, the City Council has set a vote for tonight, July 8, on whether to have residents decide on shifting away from a fully elected school board.
School board members contend that this is a blatant attempt to take away their independent authority on education matters, while City Council leadership states that this is all about giving the people of Pawtucket a say on the future of how their city and schools will operate.
On the docket is a resolution to place on the Nov. 3 ballot a referendum to amend the Pawtucket Home Rule Charter to allow for a School Committee that is composed of appointed and elected members.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2029, the school board would consist of: three total members appointed by the mayor and serving a term of three years, two appointed by the council and serving a term of three years, and two elected by the public as at-large members representing the whole city and serving a term of two years.
Any vacancies would be filled by the boards that make the appointments, except if its an elected member. That position would be filled by the mayor with approval of the council.
School Committee Chairperson Joanne Bonollo said in a statement that those currently in authority would have the power of the school budget, contracts, superintendent, and much more.
“As a member of the School Committee and a long-term registered voter in the city of Pawtucket, I choose not to surrender my vote,” she said. “If you feel the same, contact your City Council members. Their names and phone numbers are listed on the city of Pawtucket website.”
If the resolution passes, Bonollo said, the council and mayor would hold the majority vote.
“The two votes as residents and taxpayers will no longer count, as the City Council and mayor-appointed members will comprise the majority vote,” she said.
Councilor Omar Reyes, who has had a contentious relationship with Council President Terry Mercer, said the council is trying to take the people’s vote away and move to a mostly appointed school board.
“They circumvented the process and avoided going through the city Charter Review Commission and put it on their agenda a week after Fourth of July and just four days after the 250th birthday of our democracy,” he said.
Mercer said officials have been discussing this issue for two-plus years. After “it devolved” during the last Charter Review Commission deliberations, he said they were talking through the city solicitor’s office on how to, if they chose to, go to a hybrid style of committee or fully appointed one. Solicitor Frank Milos recently got back to them on what a hybrid model would look like, he said.
“I’m still wrapping my mind around it,” Mercer said of the information, adding that in his mind, it’s simply a matter of asking voters if they would like to consider an alternative process to the one that’s been employed for the past 75 or so years in Pawtucket, one that far pre-dates modern educational practices.
The idea of an appointed school board centers on having people with varying areas of expertise in many fields, Mercer contends. It’s an awful lot to expect seven people who are not necessarily in the fields of expertise needed to make complex decisions on finance, construction, or the law, said Mercer, and he doesn’t envy anyone who joins the committee.
What happens many times, said Mercer, is that people who don’t know fully what the role entails “make it their own” and soon everything “runs askew,” with far too much politics involved.
Some are saying this attempt to give voters a voice is anti-democratic, said Mercer, but in his mind, it’s the “very definition of democracy,” almost hailing to the days of prevalent financial town meetings. It’s asking residents to say whether they want to rethink this form of governance “when it dictates the entire future of our city and every single child in it.”
This item didn’t get through to the ballot two years ago “because no one got their ducks in a row,” said Mercer, and somehow today, he said, “there’s a worse composition of a School Committee, if that’s possible.” Heading into another election season, there are only eight total people declared to run, he said, including the seven current members.
“If we had a robust list of candidates who had some insight or experience, then it would be a different story,” he said.
Mercer said it’s purely coincidental that this is on the agenda days after the declaration period saw only those eight people file for candidacy. He said the council was already asking Milos to finalize this for a possible vote by residents in this year’s election. It’s been on the agenda for two years, he said, but really in the works for the past year, despite it moving to the back burner for a while.
Mercer said as he’s walked his district seeking signatures for his own candidacy, one resident after another has asked him what’s going on with the School Committee and its decisions.
“I can’t blame them,” he said.
Quite frankly, he said, current members are “overmatched” based on what they’re facing with the work on their plates, and he doesn’t mean that in a derogatory way.
“Part of the problem is it’s a political position,” he said.
Asked for comment this week, Mayor Donald Grebien said he’s not in favor of going in this direction.
“Upon seeing the school governance issue on this week’s City Council docket, I called the City Council president and members of the (council) to respectfully ask them to remove it from consideration,” he said. “They made it clear to me that they are hearing significant frustration from residents regarding the School Committee. I relayed the need for total transparency in issues of this magnitude.”
Added Grebien, “I strongly believe in the voters of Pawtucket to always do the right thing for our great city.”
