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Parents, teachers and students urge Providence School Board to rescind teacher nonrenewals as local control returns
Summary
At the board's public-comment period, educators, students and parents urged the Providence School Board to reverse recent layoffs and nonrenewals, citing lost in‑house expertise, contract spending and a surge of community letters delivered to the board.
Dozens of parents, teachers and students used the Providence School Board's public-comment period to press members to reconsider recently announced teacher layoffs and nonrenewals as the district prepares to return to local control.
Lindsay Paiva, president of the Providence Teachers Union and a third‑grade teacher, said PTU collected "over 40 letters" from students, families and educators and asked the board to look into the district's spending as state funding has increased. "Please don't balance the budget on the backs of educators," Paiva said, adding that the union and community will continue filing grievances and presenting research on contracts and spending.
Judith Dixon, a Providence speech‑language pathologist and BTU member, told the board that the district relied heavily on outside contractors for speech services and should prioritize recruiting and retaining in‑house providers. Dixon said the district spent "almost $3,000,000" last year on the Stepping Stones Group to fill speech vacancies and noted that four PPSD speech pathologists left this school year.
Students and teachers reinforced those concerns. Victoria Williams, a Classical High School student, said she and at least 700 peers gathered signatures asking the board to retain newer teachers who they said build strong relationships and classroom trust. Hope High teacher and PTU secretary Kaylee Rockwell urged the board to use its restored local authority to hold district leadership accountable and to protect student‑facing staff.
Other commenters, including student Lucas Fridge and community member Aubrey Johnson, said the board should improve communication with families about budget and reserve‑fund decisions and prioritize students over political considerations.
Speakers asked the board to examine contracting practices, centrally held spending and the staffing decisions that led to nonrenewals; several said they would present additional written materials and testimony. The public‑comment period concluded without a board vote to rescind any nonrenewals during the meeting.
The board later moved on to agenda business, including a motion to table a procurement item and a separate discussion about scheduling an executive session on legal matters. No formal action on rescinding teacher nonrenewals was recorded at this meeting.
