PROVIDENCE – In response to an R.I. Superior Court ruling last week that ordered the city to pay funding to the Providence Public School District, Mayor Brett P. Smiley in a press conference Tuesday said there will be “real consequences” and also “harmful cuts and potentially new taxes” to be implemented by the city.
Smiley said the city has implemented a hiring freeze and all discretionary spending in the city’s departments is paused. The city has also been examining any programs to be either paused, cut or canceled, Smiley said.
Such potential cuts on the table include all future grant programs for critical services such as libraries, investments in nonviolence training, parks and housing support, summer learning, water parks and summer employment, Smiley said. There could also be citywide layoffs and also potential furloughs for the rest of the fiscal year.
“The decision the court handed down put the city’s finances at risk,” Smiley said, “and we’re going to have to make very difficult decisions in the days ahead. These are the same children and families that the school department claims to prioritize.”
Additional police patrol, PVDFest, the Fourth of July Celebration and New Year’s Eve festivities could also be potentially cut, Smiley said. Also, the city, Smiley said, could also potentially pause “all large” construction projects, including for school construction. He said the city next year will be slated to spend $5 million on debt service on school construction.
“That will all have to stop,” Smiley said. The R.I. Supreme Court scheduled a hearing Wednesday to determine how much the city owes to fund PPSD for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal year.
Back on Nov. 8 according to multiple media reports, R.I. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear ruled in favor of the R.I. Department of Education and R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green over claims from state education officials that the city violated the Crowley Act. The act requires for municipal funding for school districts under state intervention must be increased by the same percentage as the increase in statewide school aid.
Per a report from WPRI-TV CBS 12, Infante-Green requested R.I. Treasurer James A. Diossa to withhold $8.5 million in car tax reimbursements from the state and city, citing the city owes PPSD close to $30 million. Providence School Superintendent Javier Montañez said in a Nov. 9 letter to the community that the state aid to the district increased by $30.5 million since RIDE intervened back in late 2019, while the city’s increased totaled only $5.5 million.
“Simply put, this week’s court ruling is a win for our kids,” Montañez wrote. “As your superintendent, I’m grateful that the court ruled in the favor of ensuring the district has access to municipal aid which will help lessen the impact of projected cuts to critical student services, programs, and staff support that would have a devastating impact on the education of Providence students.”
But Smiley said that while the city acknowledges its students are a priority, unexpected expenses such as this in the middle of the current fiscal year “is not easy to absorb.” He also said most of the city’s annual budget is “contractually bound” and there’s “very little” discretionary spending being done in city departments.
Smiley also said the “only other way” to pay for the pending judgment is asking the R.I. General Assembly permission for a midyear tax increase.
This ruling is the latest battle between the city and RIDE over funding for PPSD. Late last month, the Providence City Council
proposed an additional $2.5 million in funding to the district to prevent it from cutting all winter and spring sports and some student bus passes.
However, council leaders say PPSD officials have been aware of this offer for more than a week and the district has not accepted it, with Montañez arguing that amount won’t help.
Smiley reiterated the offer to the district “has not been accepted,” saying that it is in the “context of continued irresponsible spending” by PPSD. He also asked why the state is presenting the city with this funding problem which, he said, “remains outrageous to me and my colleagues.”
“It breaks my heart to see these kids stressed out and scared with that fear instilled on them by our school leaders. I share their frustration because they shouldn’t have to do that,” Smiley said. “We all know the federal COVID-19 aid would expire and [PPSD] did nothing to plan for it except to send us the bill.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
