Parents Seek Information About Future of School -- Rhode Island College Demands $2,100

Parents Seek Information About Future of School -- Rhode Island College Demands $2,100

Parents at Henry Barnard at Rhode Island College (RIC), frustrated at what they say is the lack of information about the finances -- and future -- of the school, sent a public record request seeking communications among administrators about their children's school. 

The response? A bill for an estimated cost of $2,100 from state officials. 

Currently, the tuition-based pre-K through grade five laboratory school at RIC continues to have an "interim" principal, and parents are worried they aren't being told the full picture. 

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"We've loved [Henry Barnard]," said Ann Wang, who has a seven-year-old and soon to be four-year-old at the school. "It's an affordable option, but more than that, it's a community."

Barnard has long been celebrated as an education success story in Rhode Island and a high performing lab for RIC students studying education.

"There were always rumblings [about the financial status] of the school, nothing really that gave us cause for alarm except that the school hasn’t had permanent leadership. It didn’t seem like RIC was putting out a search," said Wang. "The response from [RIC] was they have a new Dean, and they were 'getting to it.'"

"Especially given COVID, we know the financial impact on RIC has been substantial," said Wang. "We asked in May what the plan is, and got nothing. So we sent the APRA."

 

Parents Demanding Information Met With Big Cost Estimate

The request sent on July 1 by parents was for communications between RIC and Henry Barnard administrators, including RIC President Frank Sanchez, regarding discussions about the “vacant” principal position, future plans for the school, the possibility of closing the school.

In its response, RIC said that they believed that request would result in 1,700 items totaling 6,000 pages — and a $2100 retrieval fee. 

"The statute permits the College to request prepayment at that rate before dedicating the considerable resources necessary to complete the review and production in response to this request.  The actual cost to the College, in time and expense, will far exceed the prepayment amount requested," said Kimberly Conway Dumpson, Vice President for College Advancement and External Relations at RIC.

 "In the event that the work takes less time than anticipated, a partial refund will be given.  The College has provided substantial information, and continues to communicate frankly and directly with parents and other stakeholders.  This communication is entirely distinct from the APRA process which permits the public to request records and also permits the College to recoup a small portion of the real cost of production," Conway Dumpson added. 

Wang said that she and other parents don't believe they should be charged that amount for public information about the school's future.

The school is named after Rhode Island’s first education commissioner who served in 1842. 

"After we raised our concerns, RIC held a Zoom call with Sanchez and parents. We've asked for them to send us the link to that Zoom call for those parents who couldn't join, and so far they haven't," said Wang. 

In its college reopening plan released on Friday, RIC said Barnard -- where tuition ranges from $12,011 for grades 1-5 and over $15,000 for full-time preschool -- will "open in the fall for in-person classes according to their normal calendar and in accordance with guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Rhode Island Department of Health" and "details of the plan will be forthcoming.'

"We know a lot of parents who have pulled their children already. There’s no guarantee beyond this year," said Wang. "What we're hearing is that there are hard decisions that are going to need to be made."