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Woonsocket residents and educators urge council to raise local school contribution as layoffs loom
Summary
At a May 29 public hearing on the proposed FY2025–26 budget, teachers, parents, students and the school superintendent urged the Woonsocket City Council to increase the city's local contribution to the Woonsocket Education Department to avert planned layoffs and cuts to paraprofessionals and other positions.
Woonsocket City Council held a public hearing May 29 on the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget during which multiple residents, educators and the superintendent urged the council to increase the city's local contribution to the Woonsocket Education Department to avoid planned layoffs.
Speakers at the hearing described proposed cuts that school leaders say would affect classroom supports and services for the district’s most vulnerable students. "Please provide an inflation related increase to the local contribution," said Robert Stewart, president of the Woonsocket Teachers Guild, who cited Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) data showing the city's local contribution rose from about $16.1 million a decade ago to about $16.7 million this year.
The city opened the hearing to public comment; no deliberations or votes…
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