Pawtucket Charter Commission: The Other Shoe Drops-Agenda Displays Mayor Grebien’s Motivation-His Jihad On The Pawtucket Schools

We now know the reason for the reason for Mayor Donald “The Don” Grebien’s reconvening of the Pawtucket Charter Review Commission: His continued Jihad on the Pawtucket School Committee, for their failure to use School Committee Funds to provide financial life support to his failing administration. And, in an even sleazier move, the Charter Review Commision again conflicts with a long-ago scheduled Pawtucket School Committee Meeting.

The question begs: How can a Charter Review Commission have an informed conversation about the respective roles of the Mayor, the City Council, and the School Committee in school construction in the absence of the all-important stakeholder, the School Committee?

Short answer: They can’t.

And to be clear, Mayor Grebien & his complicit City Council never intended to.

Even more ironic? The Rhode Island Department of Education’s Regulations, as well as Rhode Island State Statute are crystal clear that all governance matters regarding schools, including financial controls, are vested solely with Municipal School Committees. While Soccer Stadium financing may be subject to Mayoral-Manipulations, try as they may, the freshly minted Pawtucket Charter Review Commission cannot trump the State Constitution.

This feeble attempt follows on last year’s Charter Review Commission’s attempt to move the Pawtucket School Committee from an elected Board to a Mayoral Appointed Committee. An effort that led to two Grebien Administration convictions/violations of the Open Meetings Law

Couple this development with today’s revelation that the Pawtucket City Finance Office, in what many are describing as a desperate attempt to balance Pawtucket’s books, closed the City’s Fiscal Year weeks before the June 30 FYE, and cancelled untold authorized City School Construction Purchase Orders.

Finally? Charter changes must be approved by the Pawtucket City Council, by our reading of State Law, by early August, in order to be placed on the State Ballot for November. Will the Grebien Administration attempt to restructure Pawtucket City Schools in the middle of the night? Inquiring minds …..