Husband of Providence High School Principal Removed From School

Husband of Providence High School Principal Removed From School

GoLocal has confirmed that Joshua Becker, the husband of Juanita Sanchez principal Ariana Testa, has been banned from the school after an incident with a school staff member earlier this month.

“The individual in question [Becker] is no longer serving as a volunteer at Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex. At this time, we have no further comment,” said Suzanne Ouellette, Chief of Communications for the Providence School Department.

When asked about Becker's volunteer role at the school, Ouellette said she would look into it but ultimately did not respond to GoLocal's inquiry.

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Background Check

When asked if Becker had gone through a background check prior to serving as a volunteer at the school, Ouellette said:

The District Office manages volunteer authorization for schools.  All Providence Public Schools volunteers are required to have BCI Background Checks every year. Mr. Becker did have the required BCI. The role that the volunteer plays within the school is managed by the respective school administration.

Further raising questions about the incident, Providence Police say they were not notified of the incident and have no report of it.

And, there is no school resource officer assigned to the school.

Testa’s bio states, “She has worked in education for over 15 years, all with the Providence Public School District (PPSD). Ariana began her educational career as an English teacher at Hope High School in 2004. She then moved over to Bridgham Middle School to serve as English Teacher Leader in 2010. The following school year, Ariana was hired at Juanita Sanchez to serve in the same capacity. She was then appointed Assistant Principal at JSEC in 2013, before becoming Principal at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.

According to the state’s assessment scores for the school, only 28% of students meet expectations in English Language Arts, and 8.9% in math.