Amid school funding fight, judge rules in favor of state withholding aid from Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A judge has ruled in favor of the R.I. Department of Education amid a fight between the state-run school district asking the city for additional funding.
R.I. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear issued a written decision on Friday that denied Providence's appeal to block a request by the state.
Last month, R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green made a request to state Treasurer James Diossa to withhold $8.5 million in car tax reimbursement payments from the state to the city. The monthly state aid is being held in escrow until the matter is resolved.
However, Lanphear said the court needs more evidence in order to determine exactly what would be owed, and that will happen at a later date.
Mayor Brett Smiley issued a statement on Friday stating his disappointment in the judge's decision, and said the financial impact of it "will have real consequences" for the entire community.
"As we evaluate the next steps, our families will remain my number one priority," Smiley said.
The mayor added that the decision also puts the city's finances at risk.
"In the days ahead we will need to make difficult decisions that we had hoped to avoid, including the potential to increase taxes, cut programs and stop future borrowings, the largest of which is for the future development of new school buildings for our students," Smiley said. "I am disappointed that the wasteful, irresponsible spending of the Providence Public School District and the historical lack of sufficient state funding for our highest need students has led us to this point today. In the days to come we will evaluate next steps with this case and the city's budget."
BACKGROUND: Judge to make decision in Providence school funding fight
In early October, the district threatened potential layoffs, hiring freezes, cuts to school sports and some RIPTA passes for students if the district didn't receive $10.9 million in funding outside of what the city allocated to the schools in this year's budget.
In a letter sent to district families on Thursday, Superintendent Dr. Javier Montañez said the district "must begin to make a series of difficult decisions" in an effort to stabilize its finances, and that he didn't want students, families and staff "to be surprised."
Last week, Providence City Council leaders said it would offer the district $2.5 million in an attempt to prevent cuts to student athletics and RIPTA bus passes for some students.
In addition to the $1 million from Lifespan and RISD, the council said it would reallocate $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars. (The Providence City Council's Committee on Finance was scheduled to meet on Thursday night to discuss and vote on reallocating the ARPA funds, but announced late Wednesday night it would cancel its meeting and postpone that decision due to the ongoing litigation.)
The $2.5 million was offered to the district with conditions that it be used to save student athletics and RIPTA bus passes, in addition to agreeing to a third-party audit of the school department's finances.
District leaders previously told the city the $2.5 million was "insufficient," and renewed the district's request for $10.9 million.
In the letter Thursday, Montañez clarified that the district was "not rejecting this funding."
"We are actively in court seeking the amount our students and schools deserve and need," Montañez added. "That said, the funding the city has identified so far would allow the district to avoid or lessen some of the deeper cuts to critical student services and supports that are projected."
Montañez said the district would engage stakeholders "in the coming days" to determine how to prioritize the funding.
He said if the budget gap remained unresolved, the district would notify the city about making several cost cutting measures on Wednesday, including their intent of withdrawing their contribution to the Capital Revolving Fund, and make additional notifications about cancelling winter and spring athletics, limiting the number of RIPTA bus passes for high school students by increasing the distance a student must live from their school and suspending the English as a Second Language (ESL) certification reimbursement for educators.
Montañez said by next Friday, the district may notify non-union school-based staff if they planned to announced layoffs and provide details about eligibility for unemployment.
The superintendent also said they would consider freezing the expansion of Pre-K classrooms for the foreseeable future, "a key lever in eliminating achievement gaps and setting students up for success."
"I do not take this lightly as each of these cuts will have significant, negative impacts on our students and community," Montañez said. "In addition to immediate effects on our students' learning environment, these cuts will widen the gap in college, career, and scholarship opportunities."
Lanphear said he would also issue a bench decision on the motion on Friday afternoon.
Target 12 has reached out to the city, district and RIDE for comment and is waiting to hear back.
This story is developing. Stay tuned for updates.
Alexandra Leslie ( ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook .
