PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A consultant’s assessment of where things stand five years into the state takeover of Providence Public Schools may be ready within weeks.

In May, Massachusetts-based consulting firm Schoo l Works began the review of the school district , which has been under state control since 2019.

R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told Target 12 on Thursday she hadn’t received the report yet and doesn’t know what will be in it.

“We’re eager to see what the report has to say,” Infante-Green said. “What we want to make sure is that they give us some blueprint, where we need to go next.”

As part of the review, SchoolWorks interviewed students and families, plus local and state leaders including Gov. Dan McKee.

“I believe that they’re going see what I see. One is that the facilities are in a totally different spot than when the Hopkins report was done in 2019,” McKee said. “I know that we’re making progress relative to outcomes and results.”

After Infante-Green reviews the report, she will issue a recommendation to the R.I. Council on Elementary and Secondary Education for consideration. The commissioner will recommend renewing the existing turnaround plan, creating a new one, or giving the schools back to the city.

Mayor Brett Smiley has previously told Target 12 that the city needs at least a year to prepare if a decision is made for schools to return to local control.

Infante-Green said she was hopeful the review would find that some of what the district has put into place since the state takeover has been “laying a foundation.”

One thing that won’t remain in place, at least next year, are extended school days.

As part of a one-year agreement reached last year between the district and the Providence Teachers Union, student learning time was extended by 30 minutes and professional development time for educators was expanded 90 minutes.

The federal relief funds used by the district to pay for the extra time are expiring in September and so far, they’ve decided not to find the money elsewhere to continue paying. Meanwhile, the union agreement to teach the extra 30 minutes is slated to sunset on Aug. 31.

Infante-Green said it was too soon to tell how much of an impact it made and that keeping kids in school longer requires additional funding.

“We wish we had the money to continue these kinds of initiatives and we hope that the federal government really sees the need, because the impact that the pandemic has has is not going to go away overnight,” the commissioner added.

Alexandra Leslie ( aleslie@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook .

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