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Former teacher tells RISD board ESS substitute contractor blocked her from assignments after October incident
Summary
A retired RISD teacher, Jane McCurdy, told trustees she was removed from substitute assignments run through ESS after a student'weapon accusation was found unfounded; she said ESS refused her request to record a meeting and she was subsequently blocked from the system.
During the public comment period, Jane McCurdy, a retiree who taught in RISD for 19 years, told the board she believes she has been wrongfully excluded from substitute assignments handled by the district's contractor ESS. McCurdy recounted being assigned to long-term substitute at Lake Highlands High School and said that after an October classroom incident (a student alleged another had a weapon; none was found), district and ESS staff told her her sub assignments were canceled and she was asked to write a statement for ESS.
"Within 40 minutes, Charles Bruner told me that all of my sub commitments were canceled and to go home and write a statement for ESS," McCurdy said. She said she asked to record a meeting with an ESS representative on October 3 and was refused; she told the board she was then blocked from ESS substitute opportunities. The board's meeting facilitator ended her public comment at the time limit; board members acknowledged receipt of her materials and the board said staff would collect the copies she provided. No formal board action or staff response resolving the matter was recorded during the meeting.
Context: McCurdy said a school principal told her she had done nothing wrong. She provided nine copies of a written statement to the board. The matter involves a privately contracted staffing vendor (ESS) and personnel processes; trustees did not make a specific public response or investigation timeline at the meeting.
