PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence School Board expressed its outrage over the "deeply disturbing findings" uncovered by the Department of Justice investigation into the state's Training Thru Placement program and the Birch Vocational School.
"It is our board's responsibility to ensure that all Providence school children receive a high-quality education in a safe environment," board president Keith Oliveira wrote Wednesday.
He said the board will continue to work with local and federal officials to find answers to the many questions that have been raised. "It is the Providence School Board's intent to find out how this has happened and how it was allowed to continue for so long," Oliveira wrote.
The U.S. Justice Department found that Birch, a school for disabled students within Mount Pleasant High School, has kept students in segregated settings.
It also found that the school funneled Birch graduates into a single state-licensed program for the disabled, called Training Thru Placement in North Providence, where students worked long hours for extremely low wages, the federal investigation found.
Justice Dept. finds disabled students' civil rights violated in RI