North Kingstown, Rhode Island is in the middle of a growing online fight after a parent wrote a long post aimed at North Kingstown School Department Superintendent Kenneth A. Duva.
Duva is the district’s superintendent, and North Kingstown Public Schools says his office is focused on transparency, open communication and building trust with families. The district also identifies him as the superintendent on its staff and superintendent pages.
The post, written by a grieving parent, did not hold back. It described Duva as a dangerous influence on the district, told families to beware, and urged incoming parents to think twice before trusting the school system.
The message repeatedly said parents should not trust district leaders and should “get your children out” of the schools, language that has now become the center of the backlash.
The writer also claimed that Duva has been in Rhode Island education for more than 15 years and said the concerns come from personal experience with the district.
Duva’s public background shows that he came to North Kingstown in 2023 after years in public education, including service as a superintendent in Jamestown before moving to NKSD.
A post built around grief, fear and warning
The post mixed personal anger with a broader warning to parents. It accused the district of hiding too much from families, claimed that school policies are harming children, and said parents should do their own research before enrolling in North Kingstown schools.
It also argued that district leaders are not telling families the full story about what is happening in the schools.
Among the post’s strongest lines was a direct warning to parents to “beware” of the district and a repeated call for families to pull their children out. The message also attacked district leadership more broadly and tied the superintendent to policies the writer strongly opposes.
At the same time, those allegations remain the writer’s claims. The district’s own public message is much different.
On its official superintendent page, Duva says he wants “transparency,” “open two way communication,” and “trusting lasting relationships” with students, families, staff and the North Kingstown community.
He also says his goal is positive student outcomes and invites families to contact him with questions or suggestions.
That contrast is part of why the post is drawing attention. On one side is a parent in deep grief sounding the alarm and telling families not to trust the system.
On the other is a superintendent whose public messaging centers on communication and partnership. The gap between the two has become the story.
Parents now face a familiar question about trust
The post is the kind that spreads quickly because it taps into something many families already worry about: whether school districts are being fully honest with parents.
In this case, the writer says the district has gone in a harmful direction and warns that the problems are larger than one school or one administrator.
The district page does not reflect those accusations. It presents Duva as a superintendent focused on student success, school safety and family communication.
Public district materials also show that he continues to appear regularly in school updates and live feeds as the face of the North Kingstown School Department.
The post has now turned into a larger discussion about leadership, school culture and what parents believe is happening behind the scenes. Even people who may not agree with the writer’s conclusions are reacting to the force of the message and the fear behind it.
For North Kingstown families, the bigger issue may not be the post itself, but the fact that it struck such a nerve. A grieving parent publicly warned others to rethink the district, and that warning has now become part of the conversation around Duva and the schools he leads.
