East Providence’s school district projected a $1.3 million deficit for fiscal 2026, with transportation, out-of-district special education placements and utilities among the costs running above budget. The projection emerged as new Superintendent Robert Perry took office and amid vacancies in the district’s finance office.
A New Superintendent Walks Into a Budget Crisis
At the School Committee’s August 11 meeting, officials projected transportation costs would exceed budget by $918,000, out-of-district special education placements by $1.1 million and utilities by $325,000, according to eastbayri.com. Superintendent Robert Perry, who started July 1, took office as the district was confronting those projected overruns.
The figures come with limits on how quickly the district can adjust spending. Salaries and benefits account for as much as 83% of the budget, while other fixed costs, including insurance and utilities, have been rising 10% to 12%, eastbayri.com reported. Transportation, special-education placements and utility costs are therefore significant pressures, but the reported figures do not by themselves indicate what savings could be made.
Finance Office Left Thin During the Crunch
The district’s finance office also faced staffing gaps. Finance Director Alexandra Gonzalez resigned June 26, after the district had gone months without a controller; the staff accountant resigned in July, effective August 4, according to eastbayri.com. The report also said the district brought in an interim finance director and outside consultants to address the deficit.
The city had not completed its audit for FY25, which ended October 31, 2025; the audit was due six months later, on May 1, the same report said. The district imposed a spending freeze while it worked out a response to the projected deficit, according to the report.
Separately, a Mayoral Tax Levy Proposal
The fiscal squeeze isn't confined to the school side of the ledger. At a city council budget session, Mayor Roberto DaSilva proposed a 3.5% increase in the tax levy, according to Uprise RI. The details and final disposition of that levy proposal were not independently confirmed beyond that account.
Bigger Cost Pressures Loom Over Next Year's Budget
The FY26 deficit is unfolding against a backdrop of structural cost growth that has been building for years. East Providence's municipal contributions to its fire and police pension fund have risen from $7.02 million in FY2018 to a projected $13.1 million in the upcoming budget year, an 86.6% increase, eastbayri.com reported in earlier coverage. The city also anticipates a 7.64% increase in health insurance costs and a 6.36% increase in dental costs for municipal employees, per that reporting, while debt service for bond-funded projects could climb by as much as $3.9 million next year.
Those pressures help explain why the district is already looking ahead. For the fiscal 2027 budget, the district said it would be examining a number of things, including an energy efficiency program, transportation efficiency, and even the consolidation of schools, according to eastbayri.com. None of those measures have been adopted; they remain under consideration as the district tries to get ahead of the next budget cycle.
Separately, state budget analysts have noted that formula aid to districts, charter schools and state schools increases by $35.2 million statewide in FY2027 to fully fund the funding formula, with Enrollment Transition funding rising $4.3 million and the Poverty Loss Stabilization Fund dropping $1.1 million, according to a Rhode Island legislature fiscal report. That report did not specify how much of the increase, if any, is bound for East Providence specifically.
What Prior Budgets and State Aid Data Show
East Providence Schools’ June 8, 2021 amended budget listed $4,926,690 for transportation, compared with $4,506,745 in its FY2020 budget, according to the district’s FY2021 amended budget. Those older budget amounts do not establish a like-for-like comparison with the current projected $918,000 overrun. A separate summary of Rhode Island’s FY2027 enacted budget says it includes $1,332.4 million in formula education aid for local school districts, state schools and Central Falls—$42.1 million, or 3.3%, above the FY2026 enacted amount, according to Rhode Island House Fiscal Advisory Staff. That summary does not identify East Providence’s share.
