Members of the public voiced their opinions on class size and transgender inclusivity in schools at the East Greenwich School Committee meeting Tuesday.
Sabrina Weiss, a parent of two Frenchtown students, said schools should be more communicative in reaching out to prospective students to enroll, based on her experiences with her own children. In a subsequent interview, she said her main concerns were class sizes and what would happen if Meadowbrook class sections were full and more students enrolled this summer.
Meadowbrook Farms and Frenchtown had four sections of kindergarten and five first-grade sections this school year. According to Supt. Brian Ricca, as the enrollment numbers stand now, there will be four kindergarten sections at Frenchtown and three at Meadowbrook when school resumes in September, and five first-grade sections at Frenchtown and four at Meadowbrook.
Cate McDevitt, a teacher at Hanaford Elementary, advocated for smaller classes overall. She pointed out that schools are still dealing with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
“The opportunity to provide smaller class sizes should be celebrated, instead of closing classrooms,” she said.
Jeanette Bradley, an East Greenwich public school parent, thanked the district in person at public comment for all that they do to support their children, after having a transgender child go through the system. Tuesday’s meeting was the first held in Pride Month so far.
“I am so proud to be a part of this school district, where your slogan is ‘all means all’” she said.
Kaz Bradley, 19, also spoke, voicing how hard it was to be a transgender middle schooler, and how they were able to get support from people at school. Bradley commended the district for what they were doing, and urged them to remain accepting.
Also speaking during public comment, Robert Chiaradio of Westerly expressed his disapproval of RIDE’s transgender and gender nonconforming guidance, stating that an individual’s gender is assigned at birth. He said his main concerns were with gender neutral bathrooms, overnight field trips, and sports. Chiaradio also said that Title IX is being inaccurately applied and “hijacked” by officials. He said he was planning to speak to all school committees across the state.
Chiaradio’s comment prompted others to respond, including Town Councilman Michael Zarrella.
“Title IX is about discrimination,” he said. “And we, in East Greenwich, do not promote discrimination.”
Also during the June 11 meeting, the School Committee approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Rhode Island Department of Education as part of the school construction process. It also approved the FY25 budget that was passed by Town Council on May 28, though numbers will be revisited when state aid is finalized. That budget left the school district with a $550,000 budget deficit.
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Agree with Robert Chiaradio … a child born a boy, should not be able to compete as a girl in sports. The boy child can identify, dress, sing, and be artistic “as a girl”, but not take advantage of his God given strength and use that to compete against a child born a girl.
Thank you for clearly articulating that the school has made the decision to reduce classroom count at Meadowbrook. Moving from 4 K rooms to 3 at capacity K rooms is not the answer. Let’s move forward with smaller class sizes and leave room for new enrollees, especially given the increase in budget provided to the school for this upcoming year.
Thank you, East Greenwich Schools, for supporting and understanding ALL students!
I am heartened to hear positive feedback about EGSD. All means all. I hope we continue work towards making sure all students thrive.
A Westerly resident consuming East Greenwich public comment time complaining about things being “hijacked.” The irony was clearly not apparent.
Mr. Chiaradio is disingenuous in his suggestion that he is concerned about restrooms, sports, etc and the safety of students.
He offers these as a distraction from his real message. Over and over at every SC meeting that he attends he speaks as an adult who would like to bully children.
It was an honor to watch the first amendment of our constitution in action. It is was an honor to be present that night. His right to free speech – no matter how dumb or hurtful or hateful his words – is a cornerstone of our democracy.
And it is an ongoing privilege to witness the support of EG residents from across the political spectrum speaking in favor of *all* of *our* children – talking back this man’s bullying. The message to kids in EG is clear. There are adults here to protect you so that you can keep being kids.