Hall aims to bring passion for involvement to schools

Johnston Sun Rise ·

“Right now the environment of Warwick schools seems toxic. There are a lot of people playing the blame game instead of trying to move anything forward. This is getting us nowhere and, inevitably, we are harming our students,” Danny Hall said in a recent interview.

Hall, 34, has lived in Warwick all his life and has recently announced his candidacy for one of the two at-large seats on the Warwick School Committee.

He grew up in the Warwick School System, attending Scott Elementary, Winman Junior High and graduating from Toll Gate in 2000. Hall received a degree in political science from the Community College of Rhode Island and then transferred to Rhode Island College. In his first year of college he was hired by the Department of Corrections for security at the ACI in Cranston. He has been with the department for 12 years and currently works in John J. Moran Medium Security.

Growing up, Hall saw his grandfather, Robert “Red” Darigan, continuously giving back to the community. Wanting to emulate his grandfather, Hall quickly became involved himself.

He fell in love with community service work and has always been involved in city politics. He ran for the City Council in Ward 5 in both 2010 and 2012. Although he inevitably lost both races, Hall said he was able to make himself better known within the community and learn how to improve.

“Nothing but good comes from being involved in your community. It benefits everyone when people give back. I believe some of our elected officials have lost sight of that and are focusing on their own personal goals. Maybe that wasn’t always the case, but it’s shifted in the wrong direction,” he said.

Although he has no children of his own in Warwick schools, Hall said he became more involved in school committee matters after they began talking about consolidation. As he became more involved he came to think he could have a bigger impact for Warwick on the school committee than the council. He thinks too many are playing the “blame game and pointing fingers” and the focus needs to be shifted back to the students.

Hall said, “Things are not going to get better overnight, but we need to start somewhere, and that starts with extending an olive branch.”

Should he be elected, Hall believes his strongest suit would be his ability to get along with people, managing different personalities and to bring people together.

Hall would even suggest creating an “Education Communication Commission,” with representatives from the various stakeholders in the school system that would meet regularly so parties could discuss issues openly before decisions are made or votes cast. This way the school committee could be proactive and put their opinions out there before an actual problem presents itself.

He would also like to see the School Committee expanded to seven members, with the additional seats either elected or appointed by the City Council.

Hall would like to see the School Committee taking more input on its decisions from teachers. He said while growing up, teachers had a huge impact on him and the teachers he knows personally consistently go “above and beyond” what they are required of in their classrooms.

“Day in and day out they are with our students, teaching our future. Without their input you’re running the risk of delaying improvements to the learning experience,” Hall said. “Right now, I don’t think teachers’ opinions are always considered, and that’s bad for the morale of the whole system.”

The biggest focus of Hall’s campaign will be on improving the system’s infrastructure. He doesn’t believe enough funding is being directed to capital improvements and the problem is only increasing.

“Some of these schools my grandfather attended and they haven’t changed much since.” Hall said. “We are never going to build a new school, so we need to at least make sure the ones we have are sustainable.”

He said most schools need upgrades to their heating systems as well as roofs. To improve the learning environment for Warwick’s students, Hall said “we need to swallow our pride” and admit we need to do more for the children of Warwick and provide teachers with the tools necessary to give the best education.

Hall would like to see more physical education and active time during school hours to instill healthy habits in kids as well as prevent further teacher layoffs and cuts to educational programs.

For the past couple of weeks Hall has been walking the district and thinks he has reached a few hundred people so far. He is excited for any and all forums and debates in the coming months and commends anyone who runs for office.

“I love giving back. I simply want to help improve our students’ school experience. It’s time to get our community rolling in the right direction, and I am dedicated to working on finding the best solutions,” Hall said.

For more information visit Hall’s Facebook page, “Danny Hall for Warwick School Committee,” or reach out to his campaign email address, hallforschoolcommittee@gmail.com.