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East Providence recalls eight teachers, approves layoffs as budget pressures persist
Summary
The East Providence School Committee said it recalled eight of 11 teachers from a prior layoff list, approved layoffs for non-certified staff and flagged substitute-teacher spending that has exceeded the year’s budget. Committee members discussed capital funding and remaining project dollars.
The East Providence School Committee on Tuesday said it recalled eight of 11 teachers who had been placed on a layoff list and moved forward with several staffing decisions as the district grapples with budget pressures.
Superintendent Dr Frand told the committee the district has "recalled eight of the 11" teachers and was in the fourth round of interviews with more postings planned. "We do hope that we can continue to call people back," Dr Frand said during the superintendent’s report. The committee later approved a separate motion to authorize district non-certified staff layoffs after reviewing the list in the meeting packet; one name was removed from the layoff list earlier the same day following a resignation.
Director of Finance warned of a budget variance tied to maintenance and substitute-teacher costs. He said the electrical maintenance line was budgeted at $10,000 but showed an expense of $66,872 and that the district received a $36,000 rebate from National Grid to offset part of that cost. On substitute teachers, he said the district budgeted $650,000 for substitutes this year and had spent about $854,000 so far, noting the district will "keep an eye on" that line as the school year concludes.
Committee members also discussed capital funds tied to recent building-committee work. Members said the building committee had approved a list of roughly 27 items totaling about $3.1–$3.3 million; paperwork referenced an unspent balance (about $3.2 million) that could roll back to the school committee for decisions on additional work or capital-improvement inclusion.
The meeting record shows motions were made, seconded and approved by voice vote for the non-certified layoffs. The transcript does not include a roll-call tally for those votes.
The committee asked staff to provide follow-up details on unspent ESSER/ESER grant funds and to circulate invoices and rebate documentation for the electrical project so committee members could review supporting paperwork by email.
The meeting concluded with continued discussion about where remaining capital dollars might be allocated and a request that building-committee decisions fit within the legal scope of capital expenditures rather than operating items.
