Donoyan Chosen To Lead Woonsocket Schools

The Woonsocket Education Department is set to have a new leader this fall after a 3-2 vote confirming the unanimous pick of the 16 member Search Subcommittee.  

Dr. Giovanna M. Donoyan, the assistant superintendent of North Providence schools was chosen from more than 100 applicants that tried for the position. Her appointment Wednesday night is still contingent on successful contract negotiations with the WED.  

Donoyan has served the North Providence school system since 2008 and comes to Woonsocket with an impressive resume of education and experience. Donoyan holds a doctorate degree in education, a masters degree in teaching and elementary education, an MBA in business management and a BS in accounting.

She served as the professional development director in Coventry and worked on the Race to the Top LEA design team with the Rhode Island Department of Education. She is a member of the Rhode Island Schools Superintendent Association Legislative Committee, and is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher. 

Donoyon said that she comes to Woonsocket, in part, as a result of communication with the city's former superintendent, Dr. Robert Gerardi.

It is not the first time she's followed in Gerardi's footsteps. Gerardi also served as the assistant head of public schools in Providence before taking the position Woonsocket. He left WED this past June for a position in Maynard, MA.

"I held his position when he left North Providence," said Donoyon.

The newly appointed education leader said she's ready for the many challenges she'll face in Woonsocket and that she's up to the task.

"I'm a very humble person but I do have years of experience in different industries and I have perspectives. I've been a parent of children in public education and have had success in former careers," she said. "I come from a diverse community and I was very good at raising all of the children to higher standards."

Above all, Donoyan explained, she has a gift for understanding and talking to people, a skill that could be crucial in bringing together members of a School Committee divided after the surrounding the process which led to her appointment.

Committee members Anita McGuire Forcier and Vimala Phongsavanh voted against Donoyan's hire, but both emphasized that their decision was not about the candidate.

"The reason I'm voting no is because of the process that it took to get us here," said Phongsavanh. Both women have questioned implemented by fellow committee members Linda Majeski and Eleanor Nadeau as part of their duties on the subcommittee that handles personnel.

Phongsavanh and McGuire Forcier repeated their displeasure with the events which led to Donoyon's appointment Wednesday night, including the process by which the 16 member search subcommittee and the decision to provide the entire committee with only one candidate to confirm or deny.

"The leader in education for our city [works] for over 6,000 students in our district and I think that to leave that in the hands of a few isn't very fair. It doesn't make much sense," Phongsavanh said.

Interim Superintendent is expected to preside over at least one more School Committee meeting before Donoyon officially takes the helm. As she was congratulated and introduced to community members in attendance Wednesday, many administrators welcomed her with a hug.

"It's the idea of respecting so many different perspectives and understanding that everyone has an issue and its not personal, but everyone needs to be listened to," she said of her philosophy.

"The most important thing is the focus on children and their best interest."