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North Providence school leaders praise storm response, seek waiver for Feb. 23–24 emergency days
Summary
The North Providence School Committee praised municipal crews and district staff for last week’s blizzard response, approved the 2026–27 calendar with a hold for a possible state primary date change, and gave the superintendent preapproval to submit a waiver request to the commissioner of education for Feb. 23–24 emergency/travel-ban days.
Superintendent Gojo asked the North Providence School Committee on Monday to preapprove a letter asking the state commissioner of education to waive two emergency/travel-ban days from the district’s school-calendar requirement, and committee members spent much of the meeting thanking municipal crews and educators for their work during a historic blizzard.
The request, which the committee approved by voice vote, seeks to include Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 — days the district said were under a state travel ban — in a state waiver that would remove the need for make-up days. “The commissioner called me,” Superintendent Gojo said, and “she commended us on our plan,” adding that he expected the commissioner to provide template language for districts that wish to join the waiver.
Why it matters: a waiver would prevent the district from having to add a make-up day for the Feb. 24 closure and would preserve scheduling flexibility the district needs for an ongoing construction project at Stephen Olney/Maguire, the superintendent said.
The discussion opened with a parent’s prepared remarks praising the emergency response and the district’s distance-learning rollout. “Every snowplow driver and machine operator is also a human being who had to find a way to show up to work in order to dig the rest of us out,” Miss Mangaka, a parent, told the committee as she thanked municipal, state and mutual-aid crews and praised district communications and teachers’ quick pivot to remote instruction.
Committee members echoed the thanks to public works and town leadership, naming DPW staff and volunteers who cleared bus routes and neighborhood streets. One committee member recounted personally checking Barrett Avenue after a request from a resident and praised the teamwork that enabled buses to run. The committee also agreed to delay public distribution of the 2026–27 calendar until the state’s final action on a proposed change to the primary date is confirmed.
Procedural outcomes: the committee approved routine minutes and consent items, voted to approve the 2026–27 school calendar as submitted, and gave Superintendent Gojo preapproval to submit the waiver letter to the commissioner. Superintendent Gojo said he will circulate the final letter to the committee after it is sent.
Next steps: the superintendent will prepare and submit a waiver letter using the state-provided template once available; the committee will receive a copy of the submitted letter and will hold off on final public calendar distribution until the primary date is settled.
