Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-18 (2026)

Selection of teachers and superintendent — General control of schools — Expenses

✓ current as of July 2026
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The selection of superintendent, in any city or towns that do not unite for the employment of a superintendent, and the entire care, control, and management of all the public school interests of the several cities or towns, shall be vested in the school committee of the several cities or towns, and they shall also draw all orders for the payment of their expenses; provided, that these expenses shall not in any fiscal year exceed the total of all revenue appropriated by the state or city or town or otherwise for the public schools under the care, control, and management of the school committee. If, in any fiscal year a school committee is notified that estimated expenses may exceed total available appropriations, the school committee shall adopt and implement a plan to maintain a balanced school budget, which plan shall provide for continuous regular public school operations consistent with the requirements of § 16-2-2; provided, that in no fiscal year shall a deficit be permitted for school operations. It is provided that, with the exception of the selection of the superintendent, the selection and appointment of teachers and other school department personnel shall be made by the superintendent with the consent of the school committee.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases, 1962–2009 · leading case: Belanger v. Matteson, 346 A.2d 124 (R.I. 1975).
Belanger v. Matteson, 346 A.2d 124 (R.I. 1975). · cites it 32× “1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 16-2-18 which states that the "selection of teachers" as well as the "entire care, control, and management of all the public school interests * * * shall be vested in the school committee" and secondly on his finding that the arbitrators had gone beyond…”
Hebert v. Ventetuolo, 480 A.2d 403 (R.I. 1984). · cites it 6× “1956 (1981 Reenactment) §§ 16-2-16 and 16-2-18. Section 16-2-16 vests in the school committee of each city, town, or regional district, authority to make the “rules and regulations for the attendance and classification of the pupils.”
Barrington Sch. Comm. v. Rhode Island State Labor Relations Bd., 388 A.2d 1369 (R.I. 1978). · cites it 7× “The fundamental substantive issue in this case is the reconciliation of §16-2-18 with §28-9.3-2. In other words, the question to be decided is whether the abolition by the committee of the 12 positions previously held by the teachers is a matter of educational policy and thus…”
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “” In the same vein, § 16-2-18 provides in part: “If, in any fiscal year a school committee is notified that estimated expenses may exceed total available appropriations, the school committee shall adopt and implement a plan to maintain a balanced school budget, which plan shall…”
Coventry Sch. Comm. v. Richtarik, 411 A.2d 912 (R.I. 1980). “” General Laws 1956 (1969 Reenactment) §16-2-18.”
Sch. Comm. of Providence v. Bd. of Regents for Educ., 429 A.2d 1297 (R.I. 1981). “Moreover, because per diem substitutes are excluded from the bargaining unit, this provision does not create an entitlement among per diem substitutes that they will continue *1303 to substitute for an absent teacher for the full period of his absence. The “clear vacancy” policy…”
Exeter-West Greenwich Reg'l Sch. Dist. v. Exeter-West Greenwich Teachers' Ass'n, 489 A.2d 1010 (R.I. 1985). “1956 (1981 Reenactment) §§ 16-2-18, and 16-2-21, and § 16-3-ll(a), as amended by P.”
Dawson v. Clark, 176 A.2d 732 (R.I. 1962). “General laws 1956, §16-2-18, reads as follows: “The selection of teachers and election of superintendent, in such towns as do not unite for the employment of a superintendent, and the entire care, control, and management of all the public school interests of the several towns,…”
Smith v. Harris, 560 F. Supp. 677 (D.R.I. 1983). · cites it 2× “1981); R.I.Gen.Laws § 16-2-18. Any person appointed to a teaching position must possess a “certificate of qualification issued by .”
McSally v. Bd. of Regents, 401 A.2d 438 (R.I. 1979). · cites it 2× “Not surprisingly, the Legislature did not expressly provide for a remand procedure in cases such as this.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.