At the Cranston Education Advisory Board (CEAB) meeting earlier this month, Joseph Rotz announced the winner of the contest to choose a new logo and slogan for the Cranston Public Schools. The slogan and logo will appear on department websites, social media, paper communication and the like. Joann Mangiarelli, a CHSW science teacher, won the slogan contest, and Emily Bovill, a CACTC graphics program student at Cranston West, won the logo contest. Both were recognized at the January 17 school committee meeting.

Gale discussed the school budget and explained the process, which included the school committee reviewing, discussing and amending the budget before its presentation to the City Council. He asked for the support of the parents and families in the school department and stated that this school year's budget (2017-2018) would be the final year using the previous funding formula.

"This year is a very important year in which we will do a lot of things," he said. "The following year there will be more unknowns, there may be some challenges down the road and we will need some advocacy and support from parents."

Rotz also discussed a scheduling committee that is currently forming to discuss a proposal for scheduling at the high school and middle school levels.

"There is a memo of agreement right now between the Cranston Teachers Association and Administration," Rotz said. "Right now they are looking for members to form the committee, which will consist of seven administration members and seven teachers, one per secondary school. If there is a school that has more than one person interested in being on the committee, a vote will take place at the school level in order to select one person so that we have 14 on the committee. We are close to wrapping up that process and we will start meeting ASAP. We would like to have something for the school committee by the fall of this year."

The CEAB meeting included an overview of the New England Laborer’s Cranston Public Schools Construction and Career Academy (NEL/CPS), which hosted the meeting. For a report on NELS/CPS and its mission, see the January 19 edition of the Cranston Herald.