More than 50 Providence teachers are losing their jobs at the end of the year.

Dozens of Providence Public School District students staged a walkout Tuesday in support of more than 50 teachers being pushed out of their jobs with notices that their contracts will not be renewed.

Classical High School students told reporters that at least two of the teachers are from their school. Julianna Bridgette Espinal, a Classical sophomore, said one would have been up for tenure in a matter of weeks.

"It came as a shock and the fact that it happened so close to the end of the school year, it was really just disheartening, and we were all shocked and surprised," Bridgette Espinal said.

Waving colored signs with messages of protest, students shouted through a megaphone, decrying the loss of their teachers.

PPSD spokesman Jay Wegimont eventually emerged from the building to survey the scene but declined to provide comment in person. Asked whether Supt. Javier Montañez would come out of the office, Wegimont did not say.

Dozens of teachers losing jobs as district says city not funding schools enough

Initially, 56 teachers received notice of non-renewal of their contracts, but in an emailed statement, Wegimont said five "have been rescinded due to recent attrition within the District," lowering the total to 51.

"Providence Public School District is aware that our students are exercising their civic rights and demonstrating their disappointment with school staff reductions," Wegimont said. "PPSD leadership and Providence police were on site at the school prior to the demonstration and accompanied the student group as they walked to PPSD’s central office to ensure safety. Students who left school will be marked for skipping class and will have to make up any work that they missed."

Wegimont described the staffing cuts as caused by a lack of money, stating the City of Providence has not met funding obligations for public schools under the state takeover.

"The City of Providence has chronically underfunded their own school district for the past decade," Wegimont said. "To address our financial challenges and to sustain the investments we know are critical, we have had to make difficult decisions and tradeoffs, including non-renewals of non-tenured educators."

However, Mayor Brett Smiley's spokesman Josh Estrella noted that in its proposed fiscal year 2025 budget, the city proposed boosting public school funding by $3 million, "the largest increase in seven years." Estrella also pointed to the fiscal cliff the district is facing. During the pandemic, states across the country received federal emergency dollars for education which are running out soon.

"Knowing that this funding is running out, the district has been in communication with the city and the state about ongoing funding concerns," Estrella said.

City and state have long battled over school funding

Smiley has been battling the state over how much the city owes its schools, with the state feeling the city should give more and Smiley feeling the city gives enough. As a result, Smiley has lobbied state lawmakers to amend the Crowley Act, a key law that helps govern what the city must pay.

"Last year, for example, the state education funding went up statewide, but the funding for the district actually fell," Smiley said during an April House Finance hearing. "And yet, despite the fact that state aid to Providence is actually down, the expectation from [the Rhode Island Department of Education] is that we actually increase our contribution, which we believe was not actually what was intended when the Crowley Act was written."

Since then, the bill has been held up in committee.