ESSERMAN

PROVIDENCE — City Council members wanted to know one thing last night: How could Supt. Donnie Evans go home without knowing that every one of the city’s 25,000 students was safely home?

And they were not happy with Evans’ answer.

“You are in charge of our most valued possessions,” Councilwoman Josephine DiRuzzo told Evans. “I want to know where you were and why you didn’t know where those students were. I think you failed the parents in this city. It’s inexcusable and it’s unacceptable.”

Councilman Nicholas Narducci said, “I’d fire you. You dropped the ball. It’s your responsibility.”

Mayor David N. Cicilline yesterday suspended without pay Tomas Hanna, the deputy superintendent of operations, for his apparent failure to respond to the mounting school bus crisis. The mayor also fired Leo Messier, the city’s director of emergency management, saying that he had lost faith in Messier’s ability to manage a crisis.

The council met last night to demand answers from the city’s top police, fire and school officials as to why 60 school buses were stranded for hours on the city’s gridlocked streets last Thursday. While there were harsh words for many department heads, Evans bore the brunt of the criticism.

Evans was repeatedly asked: Why didn’t you realize that school buses were bogged down in snow and traffic, a problem that began early Thursday afternoon.

Bill Roche, contract manager for First Student, the school bus company, said last night that that he told the School Department at 12:13 p.m. that “traffic was a disaster.”

Evans said that when he left for his East Side home around 5:30 p.m., “I was assured that the youngsters were home.”

But in an interview last Friday, Evans said that at the time of his departure, about a dozen elementary schoolchildren hadn’t made it home, although a plan was in place to bring them home.

Evans said he wasn’t informed of the burgeoning school bus delays until between 7:30 and 8 p.m., when Hanna called him at home.

“It’s your responsibility,” Councilman John Igliozzi said, “Not Tomas Hanna or [spokeswoman] Kim Rose. You were at home at a time when 100 kids were on buses. You should be the most outraged of all of us.”

Evans’ response?

“I didn’t get accurate, up-to-date information from bus drivers, First Student or our staff,”

Not only was Evans unaware of the school bus problem, he said that he didn’t realize that there was a serious breakdown in communications between his operations staff and his office.

The City Council also slammed Evans for failing to close schools when forecasters had predicted an intense, fast-moving snowstorm two days in advance. Evans said the decision to open school was made early in the morning after talking with area superintendents. He said the storm hit sooner and harder than he expected and added that by 8:30 a.m., most high school and middle school students were already in school while elementary students were on their way.

Evans told the council that he is taking immediate steps to correct the communications breakdown. On Jan. 2, the School Department will open an emergency call center for parents. Meanwhile, Evans will appoint a committee of parents, students and staff to review the district’s emergency preparedness plans and the superintendent said that he will personally reexamine the roles of specific school staff during a crisis.

Evans also said that he is checking in with his top administrators at the end of each day to see if there is anything significant that he needs to know.

School Board President Mary McClure also came under fire last night for supposedly failing to do her job.

“Do you plan on re-upping Dr. Evans’ contract?” Igliozzi said. Evans’ contract expires next December. After hedging, McClure said that yes, she would renew the superintendent’s contract.

The City Council session continued late into the night, with testimony expected from Police Chief Dean Esserman and other administration officials.

lborg@projo.com