With all the turmoil happening in Warwick schools, one senior from Toll Gate High School, Nathan Cornell, is trying to establish an advisory board with members of the City Council, the School Committee and even the Teacher’s Union.

Cornell started attending school committee meetings a few years ago when secondary school consolidation was first being discussed. He watched as the proposal of closing Vets divided everyone involved, causing people to fight and bicker rather than work together to come up with viable solutions.

“I just felt that the fighting wasn’t doing any good for anyone and we would have to work together for the good of the district,” he said.

He created a petition calling for teachers and students to have power in running the district alongside the school committee. He submitted the petition to Mayor Scott Avedisian, but unfortunately the mayor replied to Cornell that what he was proposing would require an entire charter change and wasn’t viable in Warwick.

Cornell didn’t give up; rather, he kept refining his ideas, and it wasn’t long before consolidation, selection of a superintendent and eventually teacher contract talks surfaced. He noted that everyone seemed to be complaining on how matters of the public school system are handled, but no one is stepping up to do anything about it.

He wanted to do something. In January he submitted a proposal to the School Committee and received nothing in response. Then in March he reached out to Councilwoman Kathleen Usler, who has since helped him finalize his ideas and wants to help him create the committee through a city ordinance.

As it stands now, the nine-member committee would be made up of two students, two teachers, one union representative, one school committee member, one city administrator, one school administrator and one person from the public to “represent every stakeholder.”

The hope is that the committee would act as an advisory board, consulting on educational issues that involve two or more governing bodies and even submitting proposals to both the council and the committee on how to improve the district.

“I hope that if we pass this educational reform committee we can start repairing the relationship between the Teacher’s Union, the committee and the council,” Cornell said. “I have witnessed how tense things are between the School Committee and the City Council. It’s not benefiting anyone to work together like that.”

Cornell sees the committee as a “buffer” for the city, but more importantly he wanted teachers and students to actually be represented in the conversation. He said students and teachers are rarely consulted on these matters, or even ignored completely when they are the ones that are most affected by these decisions.

He said although within school his teachers are doing everything they are supposed to and trying to act as if nothing is awry, they are obviously stressed. Those teachers he has spoken with about his committee like the idea but “have no confidence in the city,” to see it move forward.

Similarly, he said students are just as concerned about the future of their education, especially when everything is so “up in the air.” Last year, Cornell began the Educationist, a club where students can gather to discuss concerns facing the school district.

“This fighting is only causing more problems, and in the end they are all falling back on the students,” Cornell said. “If we have more involvement from the people that matter, maybe we will see more positive reforms than we have.”

Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz said the young man is a “unique and bright individual.”

He said, “Students want a little more influence over their own education. They are interacting and engaged in their futures. If they want the chance to be a part of it we have to give it to them.”

Chrabaszcz presides over the Educationist club while teachers continue “work to rule” and hopes that those students who want to become more involved in educational reform aren’t “stifled.”

Along with Usler, Cornell has also been in contact and working with both Councilman Edward Ladouceur and Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson.

Vella-Wilkinson said Cornell is very passionate, articulate, always well spoken and thoughtful when he speaks at City Council and School Committee meetings.

As much as she agrees that communication between the council and School Committee needs to be improved, she cautions Cornell to move forward cautiously to not interfere with charter regulations and the separation of powers. She believes Cornell’s goal of giving teachers and students a voice, especially on those issues that tend to polarize people, is admirable

Vella-Wilkinson said, “I think in its purest form there is a need and possibility for this committee, but we want to guarantee that it brings people together and doesn’t create more animosity and alienation.”

In July, Cornell had finished drafting and docketed a resolution that would create the Education Reform Committee, but it is currently waiting for legal approval before it goes up to the City Council.

Having worked on this since January, Cornell is anxious to see the resolution move forward and hopes it is brought before the council Monday. He would like to participate on the committee himself before he graduates in June.

“I think this committee is important. We need it now, especially with everything that’s going on,” Cornell said. “It all has been building up and it’s imperative we work together if we are going to move forward on any of these issues.”