On Feb. 14, the Providence Public School District sent letters of non-renewal to 16 teachers and one librarian. The non-renewals followed performance-based reviews and mean the contracts will not be renewed for the next academic year.
Providence City Council President Rachel Miller wrote that non-renewals in the PPSD are “career-altering” and mean teachers are ineligible for positions anywhere in the district, in a letter addressed to PPSD Superintendent Javier Montañez and Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green.
The non-renewal recipients included two nonbinary teachers — Brandi Tucker and Em Schluter — and Sam Wallace, a nonbinary librarian.
All three PPSD employees were labor organizers with the Providence Caucus of Rank and File Educators, a part of the Providence Teachers Union.
At a Wednesday Providence School Board meeting, Tucker — who teaches at Webster Avenue Elementary School — said they believe queer staff members were disproportionately represented in the recent non-renewals. “We’re good at what we do. So why have we been non-renewed?” they asked the board.
Responding to allegations that non-renewed staff were targeted due to their gender identities, PPSD spokesperson Jay Wegimont wrote that the “PPSD is an equal opportunity employer” that does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
On Wednesday, several teachers, students and families joined Tucker in criticizing the non-renewals. Ahead of the meeting, over 100 community members were directed to sit in an overflow room that projected screens displaying a livestream of the meeting. The meeting lasted over four hours.
Wallace — a librarian at DelSesto Middle School — said they are worried that their participation in community advocacy has “put a target on my back.”
“I’m an organizing teacher,” they said. “And it really, really matters. And when I organize, I get fired,” they added, referring to their non-renewal. The non-renewed staff members will finish out the remainder of their current contracts.
Wegimont emphasized that the PPSD follows a consistent, annual review process for “probationary teachers in their first three years of employment.” He did not directly respond to a question about whether the teachers union involvement could have factored into their non-renewals.
Schluter — a teacher at DelSesto Middle School — said that, as a new teacher, they are “learning and growing” and “actively seeking feedback.” They are currently enrolled in two graduate programs, which they said the PPSD is helping fund.
In her letter to Infante-Green and Montañez, Miller requested “an immediate review of these non-renewals, a clear explanation of the rationale behind them and a public commitment that no teacher will face retaliation for their gender identity or their role in labor organizing,” she wrote.
In a responding letter reviewed by The Herald, Montañez wrote that “we cannot comment on individual personnel matters.” But he continued to say that, “while these recommendations are not easy, we do believe that they are in the best interest of students and in improving teacher quality.”
The non-renewals come as the PPSD faces 132 Providence Teachers Union vacancies, representing 7% of PPSD teachers, according to Wegimont. Of those vacancies, 48 require English as a Second Language certification and five require bilingual certification.
At Wednesday’s meeting, community member Emily Le May said they hoped to see “a reversal of the non-renewals.”
Another community member, Devra Levy ’19, said she wants “to see robust local district policies in place that protect all of our students and staff, especially LGBTQIA+.”
Miro Meek, a senior at Classical High School and co-director of the Providence Student Union Leadership Team, identified himself as transgender in a statement to the school board and emphasized that the overall lack of LGBTQ+ representation among teachers make students “question whether they can achieve the same things their cisgender heterosexual peers can.”
Paul Jones, a community member who attended the meeting in support of the non-renewed staff members, said that it’s important that kids have teachers from diverse backgrounds so that students can be “coming to a place where they’re accepted and they can be comfortable.”
Several community members testified at the meeting with anecdotes and support for Wallace, Tucker and Schluter.
Levy, who said she knows Wallace, noted their “super enthusiastic” personality. “They’re a great advocate for their students,” Levy said.
“I need the board to stand up” on behalf of teachers to RIDE and PPSD leaders, Wallace said.
“These non-renewal notices come with little explanation against the backdrop of a hostile federal political climate targeting the LGBTQ+ community, union organizing and public education as a whole,” wrote Taylor Kahn-Perry, OurSchoolsPVD alliance coordinator, in a statement from the advocacy organization.
Schluter emphasized that they “just want to continue to contribute to my community.”
As an “out and proud educator,” Schluter hopes to “ensure that all of our queer students know they have someone that is listening to them,” they added.
Ciara Meyer is a section editor from Saratoga Springs, New York. She plans on concentrating in Statistics and English Nonfiction. In her free time, she loves scrapbooking and building lego flowers.
