Committee hears bill to limit state interventions to one school at a time; unions support targeted interventions

Senate Bill 922, introduced to limit state intervention to a single school at a time within a district, was presented to the Senate Education Committee and drew supportive testimony from union representatives and education stakeholders.

Senator Bisslen (as recorded in the transcript) explained that the bill aims to restrict takeovers to one school at a time, citing Mount Hope High School as an example of a school‑level intervention that some witnesses viewed as successful. He described the Crowley Act as broad and ambiguous and said the takeover in Providence illustrated a lack of accountability and transparency.

Jeremy Sencer, representing the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, and Eric Hasselhurst of the National Education Association Rhode Island testified in support. They said targeted, school‑level interventions with state support — rather than district‑wide takeovers — are a more effective and trust‑building approach. Eric Hasselhurst suggested clarifying language so the statute expressly means "one school within a school district at a time." The committee moved to hold the bill for further drafting and review.

Committee action A motion to hold S.B. 922 was made and seconded and the committee held the bill; the transcript does not record a roll‑call tally or the mover/second by name.

Context and next steps Proponents said school‑level intervention can be replicated at scale when successful and avoids the community distrust that followed the 2019 Providence takeover. Opponents were not prominent in the hearing record for this bill; committee staff and members indicated the bill requires technical clarifications in drafting before further action.