Local postal workers, Mayor Scott Avedisian, and Arlene McNulty, the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership (RIMP), are irked at a decision by the local postmaster to restrict employees from partaking in charitable endeavors during business hours.

The post office, on both a national and local level is amidst a financial crisis. The organization is currently struggling with an estimated $7 billion deficit.

David dosSantos, who took over the post office earlier this spring, reportedly made the decision barring the postal workers from mentoring youngsters saying it was a “financial burden.” Neither dosSantos, nor the post offices regional spokeswoman returned a call for comment on this story.

RIMP is a program that takes at-risk students out of the classroom for about an hour per-week in order to spend in-school time with their mentors. The mentors represent a diverse cross-section of the community, including city employees, journalists, businessmen and women, and up until this year, postal employees.

Since 1990, members of the Warwick Post Office have mentored at the Oakland Beach School.

The local postal worker’s union brought this to the attention of the Beacon after an article about dosSantos ran a few weeks ago saying he “looks to create community partnership.”

“The letter carriers who participated in the mentor program were mortified,” union vice president William Raleigh writes in a letter to the Beacon.

In a subsequent interview, Raleigh said dosSantos’ decision was shortsighted. He characterized the hours the carriers spent at the school’s mentoring children as few, but the benefits to the children, and thus, the community, as great.

“For the minimal amount of money it costs, it’s a poor decision for the community as a whole,” said Raleigh.

“The program was so rewarding for to the kids and for us. We’ve mentored kids from the time they were in elementary school through college.”

Raleigh said that since 1990 anywhere between 7-10 postal workers were involved in the program.

The union filed a grievance over the issue, but lost. The union argued that it only spent .04 percent of the post office’s total hours in the program. The arbiter decided that the postmaster had a right to suspend their involvement during business hours.

Mayor Scott Avedisian agrees with Raleigh. Avedisian wrote a letter to dosSantos asking him to reconsider his decision earlier this spring.

Last year, Elizabeth Brock Associates, an independent auditor, found that the program was highly beneficial to students. About 50-percent of the students in the program improved their grades, 57-percent completed more homework assignments, 76-percent displayed a better attitude toward schoolwork, and disciplinary actions against mentees decreased by 82-percent.

“I certainly understand the financial concerns that your office if facing, and I realize that difficult decisions must be made. I would respectfully suggest, however, that the savings realized by eliminating the mentoring program pale in comparison to the enormous benefits it provides for the students and mentors,” wrote the Mayor.

Avedisian said dosSantos never placed a courtesy call to the mayor explaining his decision one way or the other.

“It’s very sad,” said Avedisian on Friday.

“These very dedicated mentors, who for years put so much time and effort in helping our youngsters will not be able to is very sad.”

McNulty said that she met with dosSantos last year in an effort to convince him to allow the postal workers to continue in the program, but failed to convince him.

“It’s sad. If he wants to create a community partnership, these are his future employees and customers,” said McNulty.

Raleigh said the relationship between the union and the new postmaster hasn’t been smooth in any aspect. The union, he said, has filed over 140 grievances against their new boss over a myriad of issues in less than one-year.

“Mr. dosSantos cares nothing about the union’s opinion on not only this issue, but any issue,” said Raleigh.