WOONSOCKET -- Middle school principal Donna Valentine has been reassigned from the beleaguered school to the district's central office at her own request, school officials say.
Yesterday's announcement came on the heels of another big development regarding the school's future: Education Commissioner Peter McWalters has told Woonsocket Mayor Susan D. Menard that it's too early to appoint a special master to oversee the school.
Valentine's decision to step down, Supt. Anthony D'Acchioli said in a statement yesterday, was made "for the good and welfare of her students."
"Recognizing that the year-long feud between staff and administration was hurting students and diverting attention away from improving teaching and learning, Valentine made the heroic request to the Superintendent D'Acchioli," it said.
D'Acchioli, who has in recent weeks served as Valentine's biggest defender, did not make himself available for comment beyond his statement. Through his secretary, he referred all comment to his frequent adversary, School Committee Chairman Marc A. Dubois. Valentine could not be reached.
The statement itself did not provide specifics of Valentine's new assignment, but Dubois said the position will be affiliated with the district's special education department and may only continue until her contract runs out next year.
For weeks, Dubois and other committee members have lobbied to have Valentine removed from the middle school. Reached yesterday, the chairman said he was pleased with the decision.
"When only 14 teachers out of the whole middle school have confidence in your ability to lead the school, that's some sort of red flag right there," he said, referring to the faculty's recent vote of no confidence in the principal. "Absolutely, it's a good thing."
The no-confidence vote was just one of a string of setbacks at the school, starting with the publication of a state education report last month that blasted the school for letting infighting suffocate the school's academic focus. Education Department spokesman Elliot Krieger said the state was not involved in the reassignment of Valentine.
The process of finding her replacement is already under way. A job advertisement that ran this week in The Sunday Journal began with a bang: "Lead the biggest -- Work with the best."
Dubois said he anticipates a search committee will begin interviewing candidates within the next few weeks, in hopes of having a new principal in place by the start of school seven weeks from now. In the interim, Valentine will continue as principal of the building.
News of the reassignment accompanied another announcement regarding the troubled Park Place building -- there will be no special master assigned to Woonsocket Middle School, at least not yet.
In a letter to Mayor Menard, Education Commissioner McWalters called such an appointment "an extraordinary act" that is only done following an appropriate show cause hearing and "a legally binding administrative order."
Instead, Education Department spokesman Krieger described the school as being "in the first stage" of state control. He said that, while the school will not face an outright state takeover, the Department of Education will coordinate efforts to address conditions at the school, ideally with help from district officials.
But Menard, who requested the appointment of a special master in a letter to McWalters earlier this month, said she's not satisfied with that solution.
"I'm not finished with [the commissioner] on this issue. We're trying to set up a meeting now about that. Maybe the term master was not the correct term, but we need an unbiased person in there. They can call it whatever they want, whether it's a consultant or a master, they need a body on there who's not vested in what's going on, someone who's going to look at the problems and solve them."
In his letter to the mayor, McWalters explained that there is a legal process by which a special master is appointed.
The decision to place a special master at Hope High School in Providence last spring, for example, "was the culmination of a process that, by its legal definition, would extend over several months at a minimum," he said.
Because Woonsocket has been labeled a failing district, the state does plan to implement what it calls "progressive levels of control" with regard to budgetary, program and personnel decisions.
But Menard said that approach simply isn't adequate given the dire situation at the school and the short time frame before the academic year begins.
"[The state] says it will be lending some assistance, but I don't know if that's going to be enough."
Known for lying low when it comes to Woonsocket schools, Menard has in recent days become something of an advocate for students and parents, "the losers" in this battle, she says.
"Ninety percent of these students are failing math. What has happened between elementary school and that point? No one has answered that question for me. If [McWalters] won't come up here, I'll go to Providence to get answers. We're spending millions on education and by the time these students are in eighth grade they should be able to do certain things. Something's missing here and I'm going to find out what."
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
