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Pawtucket school committee delays vote on Cunningham closure, keeps ad hoc redistricting review active
Summary
After hours of public comment and committee questioning, Pawtucket school officials voted to take no closure action this year and directed the ad hoc redistricting committee to continue its review while staff supply more financial analyses and community outreach.
A divided Pawtucket School Committee on March 3 declined to approve any school closures tonight and instead extended the ad hoc redistricting review after hours of testimony from teachers, students and residents and a slide presentation showing large empty-seat imbalances across elementary schools.
The meeting opened with several public commenters urging the committee to keep Cunningham Elementary open. "School closures should not be undertaken to fix a budget deficit," a Cunningham teacher told the committee, arguing that keeping neighborhood schools operating preserves community ties. Julia Sharpentier, an MLL resource teacher with 39 years at Cunningham, read students' statements and said "it is more than a building. It is a legacy," asking members to…
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