May 31, 2022

Angélica Infante-Green
Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
255 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903

Dear Commissioner Infante-Green,

I am writing to follow up on our meeting today regarding the egregious breach of protocol during a
lockdown at Nathanael Greene Middle School on May 26, 2022. I appreciate RIDE and PPSD joining the
conversation with Providence Public Safety to discuss these time sensitive matters as it is apparent that
school safety protocols are either unclear or being disregarded by leadership within PPSD.

To reiterate my concerns, it is extremely troubling to learn that police were not called by PPSD. Our
concerns are twofold. First, according to PPSD, administrators first determined that there might be a gun
at the school at around 1:10pm yet nothing was done to notify authorities until roughly 2:30pm. Second,
once the decision was made to lock the school down, the principal did not call 911 but instead called a
school administrator. In this type of scenario, minutes and even seconds matter. It is unacceptable that it
took so long to act and that the first call was not to the police department but to a school administrator. It
is inexplicable that this occurred as our students and staff were potentially put at risk.

I want to reiterate that my office has received numerous phone calls from Nathanael Greene Middle
School parents who have deep concerns about the safety of their children. It is unacceptable to me that
given the current climate, school officials did not act immediately and violated protocol.

As I stated, I am calling on your team to immediately take the 5 following steps:

1. Terminate the Nathanael Greene Middle School Principal.

It is troubling that this action has not already been taken and that the necessary investigation has
not already occurred. While you did not agree with this recommendation during our meeting, I
strongly urge you to change your position.

2. Review the May 26 incident with the entire NGMS community and ensure that safety
protocols will be followed going forward.

I appreciate your openness to this suggestion and look forward to the meeting tomorrow.

3. Emphasize to all administrators that if it is believed that there might be a weapon in a

school building, 9-1-1 should be called immediately.

I appreciate your openness to this suggestion and look forward to seeing it implemented.

4. Retrain all administrators on lockdown protocols.

I appreciate your openness to this suggestion and look forward to seeing it implemented.
 5. Change PPSD policy to share video evidence with Providence Police immediately in these
types of scenarios.

I appreciate your openness to this suggestion. The police department is, like you, concerned
about the privacy of our students and we look forward to finding a resolution that adequately
balances privacy and safety concerns.

I, along with my team and Public Safety staff, stand ready to join you in ensuring that we provide the
utmost attention to ensuring that our schools are as safe as possible for our students and staff.

Sincerely,

Mayor Jorge O. Elorza

City of Providence

CC:
Superintendent Javier Montanez
Kinzel Thomas, School Board President
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare
Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements