By JON BAKER

CENTRAL FALLS — Superintendent of Schools Frances Gallo admitted she was stunned when she arrived at the high school Tuesday evening and observed approximately 50 demonstrators picketing on the sidewalks of Illinois and Summer streets.

The group — consisting mostly of School District-hired teacher assistants represented by Local 1627 of the Rhode Island Council 94/AFSCME (and supporters) – had congregated for “informational picketing, to shed light on the school administration's contract violations, lack of respect for the workers and the seriously deteriorating labor/management relationship.”
It did so approximately 30-40 minutes before a scheduled School District Board of Trustees meeting (6 p.m.) inside the secondary school.
At the time, John Burns, business agent for Council 94/AFSCME, stated, “We have a lot of grievances about the seniority of teacher assistants being overlooked. This is all about the school department not allowing those who have received pink slips to bump one-on-one teacher assistants who haven't been there as long. That's the main issue (those with seniority keeping their previous positions).”
Gallo and School District Director of Human Resources Kathy Gaouette maintained Thursday they still don't understand what the hubbub is all about.
“First, teacher assistants weren't laid off, they were just not allowed to bump,” Gaouette explained. “All of these people are working. There is one teacher assistant who chose not to return this (school) year as she must do her student teaching during the day. Obviously, that's her option, not ours.
“Nobody lost their jobs; everyone has one,” she continued. “Some are working in classrooms, and some chose not to take a teacher assistant position. Some moved into custodial jobs, one is now a secretary in the library at Calcutt (Middle School). She could've taken a job as a teacher assistant, but chose not to. Another teacher assistant is now a bus driver.”
When asked why those folks had chosen to picket, Gallo offered, “That's a very good question. Why would anybody picket when they have jobs, and the state of Rhode Island has a 12.8 percent unemployment rate?
“The real issue here is seniority and the ability to bump,” she noted. “We didn't take that seniority away. All we did – as a school district administration – was say, 'You can still bump, but you can't bump a relationship already created between a teacher assistant and a child, those two already working together.”
Gallo mentioned that, on June 19, the school district implemented a change to positively affect the most fragile, vulnerable children (that is, those with special needs) in the school system.
“We held the bond between child and his/her one-on-one teacher assistant to have greater priority over seniority,” Gallo noted. “We made this change with the concurrence of the union – whose representatives fully comprehended the disruption wrought (on) fragile children when they arbitrarily lose the one-on-one assistants with whom they've developed a relationship.
“We heard from no one during the remaining weeks of June, or throughout the extended summer days of July and early August,” she added. “But, on Sept. 1, we received numerous grievances regarding this change … Having been employed in this system longer than another, the senior person has the sole right to select which student he or she will help – regardless of the agreement to change this practice, regardless of the effects on children who already labor under severe challenges.”
Gallo indicated that these special needs children do not have an organized voice, and that most parents/guardians feel helpless in this situation.
“Parental fear is two-fold: If they come out in support of this change, their child's right to privacy is broken. If they come out in support and the battle rages on, and the contract trumps student need, what will the relationship between child and new teacher assistant be like?” she queried.
“The … school district is saying that our children come first,” she continued. “We are asking, who is best suited to help this child make progress – academically, socially, behaviorally and emotionally? Our response is that it is those with a proven track record of success. A seniority-based system doesn't serve this purpose.”
Gallo mentioned that, when she first took the job three years ago, she promised all students and their parents would come first in her decision-making policies.
“It's a union issue, and they're saying it's me – that I'm not following the contract,” she said. “The union contract states (all teacher assistants) would be allowed to bump, but also 'with qualifications.' What we're saying is a teacher assistant with a stellar, established relationship with a student is that qualification.”
The superintendent also was asked what had occurred during that Tuesday night meeting, and she stated that it went into executive session right away.
“It was private at the union's request, and I'm not allowed to talk about it at this time,” she said. “I will say I felt the other side of the story needed to be told. What I don't understand is why they chose to picket. They brought it up, and made it public, then they asked for privacy with the meeting.”