On Wednesday, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and the Rhode Island Department of Education reached a deal on how much the City must increase funding for the Providence Public School District. The deal still needs to be formalized in writing. The parties expect to announce the details of the agreement on Friday.
The deal follows two rulings by the Rhode Island Superior Court last week which found that the City was required to provide additional funding to the district. The PPSD is currently facing a nearly $11 million budget deficit and has proposed cuts to school sports, bus passes and some staff positions.
PPSD budget decisions are not anticipated until after agreement details are formalized and shared on Friday.
A declaratory judgment deciding how much the City had to pay the PPSD was scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday. Instead, the parties spent multiple hours outside the courtroom deliberating over a deal. At around 1 p.m., Associate Justice Jeffery Lanphear announced that an agreement had been reached.
Later, Smiley held a meeting with the media and said that he was “really pleased” with the agreement, since the ongoing legal battle with RIDE has “been such a stress on school kids in Providence, families of Providence and the taxpayers.”
Smiley and City Council President Rachel Miller said last week that the court rulings could lead the City to increase taxes or cut vital city services.
After the deal was made, Smiley shared that library services and recreation centers would not be at risk of budget cuts in the current fiscal year. He said that a tax increase was “inevitable” but that the City hopes “to avoid a mid-year tax increase.”
Smiley also reiterated that the City has already implemented a hiring and non-essential spending freeze. He said he could not yet speak to potential other cuts, such as to police, fire or PVDFest.
Smiley said today’s deal was “an important step along the way” toward regaining local control over the district, which has been under a takeover by RIDE since 2019.
Ciara Meyer is a senior staff writer from Saratoga Springs, New York. She plans on concentrating in Statistics and English Nonfiction. In her free time, she loves scrapbooking and building lego flowers.
