RI Charter School Principal Alleges Discrimination After Whistleblowing. RI Charter School Principal Alleges Discrimination After Whistleblowing. Published: April 1, 2008 Coventry, RI - You can hear Charlie and his friends chatting away at the sugarhouse when you visit to see the boil but seeing them may be tricky. Town of Coventry, RI. Town Hall - 1670 Flat River Road, Coventry, RI 02816. Overview; RI Public Schools; School Directory; School Districts; School Calendar; School & District Report Cards; Early Childhood Education; Charter Schools. Westwood YMCA Childcare. Parents and guardians in the Coventry area that need childcare for kindergarten age children (5 years old by September 1) or before and after. After School Programs In Coventry Ri PostEmail to a friend. Permalink. Friday, May 2. Kate Nagle, Go. Local. Coventry, RI breaking news, local news, events, weather, sports, schools, shopping, restaurants from Patch. After School Programs In Coventry Ri TaxProv News Editor. Celeste Terry- Lo. The Upper School Principal at the Paul Cuffee Charter School in Providence is alleging discrimination after she was placed on administrative leave, after she said she raised questions about the validity of students transcripts and meeting the necessary graduation requirements after she arrived at the school in September. In January, Cuffee principal Celeste Terry- Lo filed complaints with the Office of Civil Rights within the U. S. Department of Education - - and was subsequently placed on administrative leave by the school. The Department of Education referred one of the charges the U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission in April. On Thursday, Terry- Lo said she had learned that the school posted her position for next year. “I feel like as an individual I have no basic human rights in Rhode Island - - I feel bad for my students, I wasn't able to communicate with them after they put me on leave. ![]() They reached out to me repeatedly, the only people who knew what happened were the head of school and the dean,” said Terry- Lo. It pains me that the school and the executive committee would allow this to happen when I was trying to push the academic rigor to get the school where it's supposed to be.”Timeline of Events“I was trained at New leaders for New Schools. I came from Baltimore, I worked in Montgomery County as well as New York City. I worked under Dr. Andreas Alonzo who is now a Professor at Harvard. When he left and there was a change at leadership, I left in part due to that direction,” said Terry- Lo. At the same time, my daughter was looking at colleges in the northeast. I thought Providence was diverse. My husband is Chinese, so I was looking for some diversity, and where our kids would feel comfortable. I came to Paul Cuffee, loved the kids, their policy of social justice, I was their number one choice among the finalists."“When I got to Cuffee in September, I started going through the systems, which is when noticed some potential issues,” said Terry- Lo. The documentation was not updated for English Language Learners, records were missing, and when I looked at the transcripts, I didn't see evidence health and health and technology, both requirements for graduation. When I started asking questions, [Head of School] Christopher Haskins became hostile towards me.”“Then, a former student who was enrolled at Bowie State reached out to me when she was trying to get in contact with the academic dean. She said she had a ‘contract’ to graduate early. So I asked our academic dean about the contract, she said she didn't know,” said Terry- Lo. Haskins then said the student was in fact supposed to be at Cuffee still, I said she's at Bowie. He told me to contact the truancy officer, who said if there was a mistake, it is on Paul Cuffee. Apparently, she didn't finish her English class at Cuffee, and that's when I found the contract, which again, my dean said she didn't send to Bowie. So I asked Haskins if the English credit at Bowie would qualify, and he said no. And what I was faced with was having to put her down as a dropout."“In the meantime, I noticed that health wasn't on some of the transcripts. According to RIDE, the technology requirement is skills, not just keyboarding. So I said I wanted a new course to guarantee the credit. I applied for a Microsoft program - - TEALS - - I was the first one here to get it for our school,” said Terry- Lo. He didn't like that, and told me to revert back to the way things were. What I figured out it was to cover him - - he operated under the old model.”Athletics Incident “Then there was an episode with the Interscholastic League. The dean, in the middle of a playoff basketball game, said that some of our players were ineligible. She told the Athletic Director, who told me. She also went to the head of school, but not me. She was supposed to report it to me,” said Terry- Lo. So I contacted RIIL because Cuffee didn't have a set policy, but the head of school wanted me to wait for permission - - meanwhile, this is my job, and my certification at stake here. We were using midterm grades, not semester grades, we had about four different policies and nothing was clear. So I sent an email out asking what we were doing to do, and then the Dean went to the head of school and overturned my decision to clarify the policy. It was pretty clear they wanted me to take the fall for it. I went and told the players what had happened, and Haskins was pretty upset about that.”“That's when I filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights - - I felt that the people of color, the AD and myself, were left out of the decision making process,” said Terry- Lo. When I contacted the Office of Civil Right in Boston in January, according to the [school] handbook when a complaint is filed I had to let the school know. Haskins immediatelyhad me removed with pay - - that's not considered retaliatory here in Rhode Island. He blocked me from the building, email, told me I couldn't talk to students, staff, parents.”Jim Vincent, Providence NAACP. I got no due process. The executive committee approved his measure to put me on leave for two weeks. I requested 3 times to meet with them, and they denied me three times. I had written up the dean for the basketball incident - - if she knew, why did she wait for halftime, and she violated the open communication policy,” said Terry- Lo. So every week I was put on leave, until recently when I was recommended for non- renewal. I know that the dean wrote me up for a Secret Santa gift - - the person I had wanted rum. I said I can't do that, so I picked up some body bath in the shape of a rum bottle. I'm like, what does this have to do with my job?”Cuffee head of school Christopher Haskins did not respond to request for comment on Thursday as to why Terry- Lo was placed on leave. “It pains me that the school and the executive committee would allow this to happen when I was trying to push the academic rigor to get the school where it's supposed to be. Paul Cuffee is a ‘paper mill’ — when the standardized tests show our students are at 2. Terry- Lo. Terry- Lo brought the incident to the attention of Jim Vincent, President of the Providence NAACP branch. “I was distraught at what I heard, to have a African American professional to come in to our state to be that unhappy and running into all these problems,” said Vincent. I’m saddened by it. I hope that Paul Cuffee can do the right thing."Related Slideshow: Top High Schools in Rhode Island 2. Prev. Next#5. 1 Central High School. Rank: #4. 6Enrollment: 1. Mascot: Knights. Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Ed Cooley (Providence College men's basketball coach) and Marvin Barnes (2nd overall draft pick in the 1. NBA draft). 2. 01. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 5. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#5. 0 Mount Pleasant. Rank: #4. 7Enrollment: 8. Mascot: Kilties. Claim to Fame: School principal Scott Sutherland was named Rhode Island Principal of the Year in 2. Rhode Island Association of School Principals. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 5. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 9 Woonsocket 2. Rank: #4. 5Enrollment: 1,5. Mascot: Villa Novans. Claim to Fame: Part of the Urban Debate League, a community partnership between Brown University and a number of Rhode Island schools. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 5. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 8 RI Nurses Charter HS2. Rank: N/AEnrollment: 2. Claim to Fame: RI Nurses Charter HS offers a study abroad program where students are sent to Cape Verde to gain both academic and hands on learning. 2. Performance at a Glance Graduation rate: 6. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 7 Dr. Jorge Alvarez HS. Rank: #4. 4Enrollment: 4. Claim to Fame: An interactive online Student Action Plan to help students focus and achieve for each year of school. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 6 W. B. Cooley HS. 2. 01. Rank: N/AEnrollment: 6. Mascot: Cavaliers Claim to Fame: Michaela Keegan, principal of W. B. Cooley High School, was awarded the First Year Principal of the Year in 2. Rhode Island Association of School Principals. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 5 Hope High School. Rank: N/AEnrollment: 8. Mascot: Blue Wave. Claim to Fame: Hope High School was founded in 1. Richard S. Aldrich (former RI Representative), Ray Jarvis (former Boston Red Sox player), and H. P. Lovecraft (horror author). 2. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 4 Providence CTA2. Rank: #3. 9Enrollment: 6. Claim to Fame: PCTA offers 1. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 8: 1. Prev. Next#4. 3 E- Cubed Academy. Rank: #4. 1Enrollment: 3. Claim to Fame: A structure based on the Diploma Plus Model fosters positive relationships between parents, students, teachers, and administrators and creates powerful learning experiences that will motivate students to grow and succeed. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7. District spending per pupil: $1. Student- teacher ratio: 1. Prev. Next#4. 2 Central Falls HS. Rank: #3. 4Enrollment: 7. Mascot: Warriors. Claim to Fame: The Central Falls School District gained nation attention when in 2. Ultimately the Obama Administration sided with the school board. In a more positive light, Central Fall’s Chess Team has experienced incredible success and finished in the top 1. Alec Baldwin’s Foundation. Performance at a Glance. Graduation rate: 7.
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