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School Committee Votes 3-Year Contract Extension for Raiche

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

WEST WARWICK - The School Committee last night approved a new three-year contract for Supt. David P. Raiche, a 30-year School Department employee who has led the district since 2001.

Raiche has worked at four of the district's six schools since he was hired, in 1974, as a first-grade teacher at the Maisie E. Quinn Elementary School. He will be paid $110,870 this fiscal year, a 3.75 percent increase over his current salary, school board Chairman Daniel T. Burns Jr. said.

His salary will increase to $115,030 in the next fiscal year and to $119,340 during the last year of the contract.

"Every dollar we pay Dave Raiche is worth it," board member Thomas V. Iannitti Jr. said after last night's meeting. "I don't even need to ask about his contract."

Indeed, the School Committee approved the agreement unanimously and without debate. The contract will provide health and dental insurance, 25 vacation days per year and $350 per month for job- related expenses this fiscal year. He is paid less than his counterparts in all neighboring districts, including Coventry, East Greenwich, Cranston and Warwick, Burns said.

Raiche's interest in a new contract was not guaranteed. He is entitled to a pension of more than half his salary if he retires, and he has expressed interest in working at other posts in the education field, perhaps designing facilities or training administrators.

"I sat on the fence for a couple of months," Raiche, 51, said yesterday.

But several of Raiche's goals have remained elusive, including reducing the 25-percent drop-out rate at West Warwick High School and limiting truancy. Nine percent of local high school students are absent on a typical day, and five of the town's six public schools have failed to meet Raiche's attendance goals.

Raiche said he is also eager to guide the development of a new diploma system that will radically change graduation requirements.

Raiche has completed his initial three-year contract and a one- year extension that expired on June 30. Earlier, he taught at Deering Middle School, served as assistant principal at Maisie E. Quinn and principal at the former Providence Street Elementary School, among other postings. He holds a bachelor's degree in early- childhood education from Rhode Island College and a master's degree in reading.

The school board did not convene a search committee in 2001 when it promoted Raiche from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Burns said.

The school board does not always agree with Raiche's recommendations. Last night, the superintendent reversed his position on a controversial proposal to eliminate any mention of honors classes on student transcripts. The plan was greeted skeptically by some school board members and it drew protests from the mother of a Deering student, who said it would put her daughter at a disadvantage in the college admissions process.

"David has been working hard on keeping up with current trends in education reform," school board member Jeffrey M. Kos said. "Sometimes we get too far ahead, but we admire his proactivity."

Benjamin N. Gedan can be reached at bgedan@projo.com.

Source: Providence Journal

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