NEW: Dr. Frances Gallo, Superintendent of Central Falls Schools, To Retire
GoLocalProv News Team
NEW: Dr. Frances Gallo, Superintendent of Central Falls Schools, To Retire
At Tuesday night's Central Falls School Board of Trustees meeting, the Board officially accepted a letter of resignation from Superintendent Dr. Frances Gallo. Dr. Gallo will be retiring from traditional public education on June 30, 2015.
According to a statement, The Board accepted Dr. Gallo’s decision "with deep regret and equally deep appreciation for her eight years of service to the children and families of Central Falls."
“For the past eight years, I have marveled at the leadership and care with which Dr. Gallo approached her work in our Central Falls district,” said Anna Cano-Morales, Chair, Central Falls Board of Trustees. “She will definitely be leaving this district in a much better place than when she found it. There are no words to truly express how grateful we are for her unwavering commitment to put children, their community, and progress in education front and center of her work.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“As a former student turned Trustee, I have never witnessed such an incredible champion for Central Falls schools as Dr. Gallo. Through her leadership, we've been able to transform culture in our schools, increase graduation rates, and build a parental engagement movement,” said Stephanie Gonzalez, board member, Central Falls Board of Trustees. “It is difficult to see her go, but I look forward to continue supporting the vision she leaves behind. I could not be more grateful for the way she loved and respected my community as if it were her own – in fact, it is."
“Dr. Gallo’s love for and belief in the children of Central Falls – our children – drove every action she took as superintendent,” said Sonia Rodrigues Grace, Vice Chair, Central Falls Board of Trustees. “Her grace and unflinching commitment to world-class public education inspired me and, I’m sure, many others in our city and beyond. We will miss her deeply.”
RI Experts on the Biggest Issues Facing Public Education
Sasse
"Provide a state constitutional guarantee that all children will have access to an education that will prepare them to meet high performance standards and be successful adults.
Bridge the gap between the educational achievement of majority and minority students. This will require the implementation of a comprehensive agenda for quality education in Rhode Island’s inner cities."
Sasse
"Revisit school governance and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the state, school districts , neighborhood schools, and school teachers and school administrators. Develop and implement a system to hold schools responsible for student outcomes."
Sasse
"Build a consensus and buy in of all stakeholders around the education reform initiatives being advanced by the Board of Education."
Metcalfe
"Set high expectations and raise our standards across the state for anyone that contributes to the success of our students. From adopting the Common Core to discussing rigorous teacher evaluations, conversations around creating a culture of high expectations have to be at the center of the work."
Metcalfe
"Expand opportunities and start earlier - we must ensure that all kids have access to a high performing public school of their choice, which includes full-day kindergarten."
Metcalfe
"School facilities - with an aging infrastructure, underutilized buildings and the need to provide fair funding for school facilities for all public school students regardless of the public school they attend, this needs to be a top issue tackled by the RI General Assembly in 2014."
Cano-Morales
"Meet the academic potential of all students but especially with regards to urban schools students -- 3 out of 4 are Latinos in Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket."
Cano-Morales
"Connect through specific best practices the academic successes of our students to careers jobs. Investing in schools is economic development as a whole for Rhode Island. "
Cano-Morales
"Increase the access to -- and completion of -- higher education and post- secondary opportunities. Poverty? Struggling families? Education and access to careers and competitive wages is the best antidote."
Duffy
"Providing adequate funding is critical -- and there are going to be pressures on the state budget, which mean stresses to meet the education funding formula. With the predictions of the state's projected loss of revenue with the casinos in MA, education funding could be on the cutting board, and we need to ensure that it's not. Do we need to look at strengthening the language of the constitution to guarantee funding?"
Duffy
"Implementing the common core standards will provide continuity -- and comparison -- between states now. With over 40 states involved, we're embarking a new set of standards here."
Duffy
"Accountability and assessing student performance -- how that it's driven by the common core, we'll be able to compare the best districts in RI against the best districts in say MA. That's the intent of the Common Core is a standardization of how we hold the system accountable."
Cylke
"Issue one is quality. Your quality of education should not be dependent on your zip code. And the reality is, certain cities are distressed, or whose property values are not as high, I know each town has a different capacity to fund education. There's an absolute, clear relationship between the quality of public schools, and economic development of states. There's irrefutable evidence that quality public schools can make states more competitive."
Cylke
"Issue two is equality. In West Warwick and Providence, the per pupil spending is around $16K. In Pawtucket it's $12.9. What's wrong with that picture? If I'm in charge of overseeing that my students are college ready, they need to be adequate funding. A difference of $3000 per pupil? We're talking in the tens of millions of dollars -- more like $25 million in this case. An exemplary school district is Montgomery County, MD -- they have roughly the same number of students, around 145,000 -- there's one funding figure per pupil. There's equitable funding for all kids."
Cylke
"Issue three is Infrastructure. A critical issue is whether the state is going to lift its moratorium in 2014 for renovations for older schools, ore new construction. If that moratorium is not lifted, and those funds are not available, it is critical to us here in Pawtucket. The average of my schools is 66 years, I've got 3 that celebrate 100 years this year. These old schools have good bones, but they need to be maintained. These are assets -- and this is all interrelated with the funding formula."
