PROVIDENCE — A private consultant released a scathing report on the school district last night and said that unless changes are made in the way it does business, students, especially boys and minorities, will never catch up with their more privileged peers.

“Your district is in pretty bad shape,” the consultant, James A. Scott, told the School Board last night. “Your district is the most challenging district I’ve seen.”

The team of consultants, who visited the district in February, concluded that interference by the City Council is one of the biggest challenges facing the schools. Scott said that the council has repeatedly undermined Supt. Donnie Evans’ legal authority to reorganize his top staff.

On one occasion, John J. Igliozzi, chairman of the City Council Finance Committee, asked Evans for the resumes of several administrators that the superintendent wanted to appoint, clearly flouting Evans’ authority, Scott said. On another occasion, the council told Evans he couldn’t make certain appointments.

“That’s interference, plain and simple,” Scott said. “If you’re going to hold someone accountable, you have to let them do their thing.”

In his report, the consultants wrote that the superintendent has four bosses: the School Board, the mayor, the City Council and the state. In the future, Scott urged the School Board to shield the superintendent from this kind of meddling by outside forces.

The bulk of the audit focused on the curriculum. The consultants found that the city has no clear and consistent curriculum across schools, yet students are tested to determine if they have mastered “the curriculum.”

Of the 501 courses offered by the district, only 174 have curriculum guides. A lot of material is being taught without any guidance from a curriculum, which means that there is little consistency from one school to another, a big issue in a district with high student mobility rates.

One of the reasons why Providence doesn’t have a curriculum is because of the high turnover in superintendents and principals. The city has had five superintendents in nine years, including Evans, who announced that he would be leaving the district when his contract expires in September. Ten out of 20 principals have less than two years on the job and 6 out of the 10 have less than one year of service.

“The board needs to make a long-term commitment to a superintendent,” Scott said. “This constant churning is detrimental to students and it is wearing on teachers. Many of them told me, ‘We’re just worn out.’ ”

Why is a uniform curriculum such a challenge?

Because the school system doesn’t have enough central office staff to not only develop a systemwide curriculum, but also evaluate how it is taught.

“There are a lot of chiefs and secretaries,” Scott said, “but no one in between. Key positions in math and science have gone unfilled. That’s why your math scores are so poor.”

Scott said there are several ways Providence can get a curriculum: write one, buy one, get someone to donate one or a combination of each. Because the district is facing a $6-million deficit, he suggested Providence consider “borrowing” a curriculum from another school system.

The district also lacks an effective way to evaluate teachers and administrators. Administrators, for example, can select which subject they want to be evaluated on. Tenured teachers can satisfy performance goals by writing a paper on a topic of their choosing.

At the current rate of progress, Providence will never be able to close the achievement gaps between minority students and those who are more advantaged. The consultants also found that Hispanic, black and male students are under-represented in academically advanced programs and over-represented in terms of suspensions.

The consultants recommended that the district establish a core curriculum, recruit minority teachers to fill shortages and review the selection process for academically advanced programs.

The human resources office also came under fire. The office is ineffective, Scott said. There are no job descriptions for 43 percent of the department’s employees. The consultants suggested that the district consider turning over its human resources department to the city because the district has already had seven years of ineffective leadership.

On the positive side, the consultants liked Evans’ strategic plan and urged the School Board to stick with it when the new superintendent comes in. In light of the current budget crisis, however, the school district needs to be more realistic about its technology plan and the proposed $790-million school facilities plan.

“The master plan is very good, but it hasn’t been funded,” Scott said of the facilities plan. “Get to the critical issues first. You need a maintenance plan. Some of your schools are in terrible shape. I saw a school where the bathroom was leaking into the cafeteria.”

Scott concluded by saying that Providence is in trouble.

“You can’t put a new superintendent in every two years,” he said. “It’s bad for the city and the students.”

lborg@projo.com