PAWTUCKET – Officials are making several changes to school days and tacking days onto the end of the school year for elementary students after it was discovered that the school day has been five minutes too short for those students.
Supt. Randy Buck has accepted blame for the situation, which officials say goes back at least three years to previous school administrations.
Steph Machado of The Globe was first to report on the discovery that students were being let out of school five minutes early for an unknown number of years. The longstanding mistake is expected to cost the district about $255,000 to pay teachers and its bus company for more days.
In a letter to families on Thursday, May 21, Buck said that as part of the district’s review of instructional time following this year’s blizzard-related snow day closures, it became clear that corrective action was needed at the elementary level to ensure compliance with Rhode Island Department of Education instructional time requirements.
Following collaboration with RIDE and the Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance, he said the district received approval for an updated elementary school calendar plan.
Beginning Tuesday, May 26, all elementary schools will extend the student instruction day by 10 minutes. They will also stay in session on June 22, 23, and 24, making June 24 the new last day of school.
Due to snow days, secondary schools get out on June 17, with the exception of Tolman High School, which gets on June 18.
“The district has been working closely with our transportation team to align these adjustments and minimize disruption to families,” he wrote. “Districtwide implementation details, including transportation and related logistics, will be communicated directly by the Pawtucket School Department.”
He added, “We understand that this late-year adjustment may create inconvenience and require families to make changes, and I want to acknowledge that directly.”
He said he recognizes the impact this has on elementary families, and appreciates their flexibility “as we take the necessary steps to resolve this matter responsibly.”
The Local Insider will be reporting more on this developing story over the next day.
