Elorza sues Infante-Green over disputed funding for Providence schools

Updated at 12:57 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2021.

MAYOR JORGE O. ELORZA and the Providence City Council have filed a lawsuit against R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green and the state education department over disputes in funding for Providence public schools. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – Whether the city has set aside enough money for the Providence Public School District is at the center of a dispute now in court. 

Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and the Providence City Council on Sept. 28 filed a lawsuit against R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green and the R.I. Department of Education for taking away about $5 million in state aid from the school district. The complaint, filed in Providence County Superior Court and shared with Providence Business News, comes after months of disagreement over the funding formula under which both the city and the state are required to contribute to the school district.

The state took over operations of the beleaguered school district in the October 2019, but the city under an agreement with the state agreed to continue paying for part of the district’s operations even under state control. Specifically, the agreement, under the law known as the Crowley Act, says that the city must increase its annual budget contribution to the school district at the same amount that the state increases its aid to local schools.

The state increased its funding for all local school districts by 3.7%  in fiscal year 2021. The city of Providence, however, included roughly the same $130 million in its fiscal 2021 spending plan as the year before.

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Infante-Green and the state say this violates the Crowley Act agreement and, in order to the R.I. General Treasurer in August, called for the state to take away the extra $4.85 million from the school district – the amount the city would have had to add to its fiscal 2021 budget to match the 3.7% state increase.

But the city contends its obligation to match the state increase in funding is not so simple. The increase in state contributions, which typically comes solely through the general funds of the state budget, in fiscal 2021 also included about $42 million in federal aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act designated for education needs. The city, though it has since gotten stimulus aid through the American Rescue Plan Act, received no such education-specific CARES Act funding to boost its own fiscal 2021 contribution to the school district.

Further complicating the matter, another $50 million chunk in CARES ACT funds for the state was not included in the state’s calculation for what it spent on local school districts.

The city in its complaint argues that the decision to include one set of federal funding but not another is “arbitrary” and “results in an unpredictable method of distributing state education aid” that contradicts the Crowley Act. 

While the struggling Providence Public School District has long been underfunded, among other problems, the city in its complaint notes that the district ended fiscal 2020 with an $11.2 million surplus. 

The city also alleges that Infante-Green does not have the power to order money to be withheld from the school district, and asks the court to overturn her order.

The commissioner in her Aug. 30 order, which is included as an exhibit to the complaint, disputes both these arguments. The $42 million in CARES Act was included in the state calculation for local education aid because it was expressly designated by the federal government for that purpose. The other $50 million in COVID relief funds, by contrast, was intended to cover pandemic costs, the order stated. The commissioner also offers a differing interpretation of the state law which gives her the authority to withhold or take back state education aid.

As of Thursday morning, RIDE had not yet received a copy of the complaint, according to Victor Morente, a department spokesman.

However, Morente, said that the commissioner has the “statutory authority” to enforce violations of state law, including by recouping funding.

Morente also wrote,” the Providence Public School District has been historically underfunded by the city through their practice of level-funding their contribution to schools, otherwise known as the maintenance of effort. In fact, funding for PPSD stayed stagnant for six years from 2011-2017, while the District was in clear crisis and amidst a statewide moratorium on school facility spending. This is unacceptable and at its core, and reflects an equity issue within government budgeting. Our students deserved better than this.”

Elorza in an emailed response Thursday said the suit comes after over a year of negotiations with RIDE and disagreement over calculations for funding.

“What is particularly frustrating about this is that it has nothing to do with providing high-quality education for our kids,” he said. “RIDE is sitting on millions of dollars in unused funds from previous years. They are not using the funds that they have and they somehow feel justified in asking for more.

Update: Adds paragraphs 15-16 with additional comment from Mayor Jorge O. Elorza

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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