R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9 (2026)

General powers and duties of school committees

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Unless the responsibility is otherwise delegated by this chapter, the entire care, control, and management of all public school interests of the several cities and towns shall be vested in the school committees of the several cities and towns. School committees shall have, in addition to those enumerated in this title, the following powers and duties:

(1) To identify educational needs in the community.

(2) To develop education policies to meet the needs of the community.

(3) To provide for and ensure the implementation of federal and state laws, the regulations of the council on elementary and secondary education, and local school policies, programs, and directives.

(4) To provide for the evaluation of the performance of the school system.

(5) To have responsibility for the care and control of local schools.

(6) To have overall policy responsibility for the employment and discipline of school department personnel.

(7) To approve a master plan defining goals and objectives of the school system. These goals and objectives shall be expressed in terms of what men and women should know and be able to do as a result of their educational experience. The committee shall periodically evaluate the efforts and results of education in light of these objectives.

(8) To provide for the location, care, control, and management of school facilities and equipment.

(9) To adopt a school budget to submit to the local appropriating authority.

(10) To adopt any changes in the school budget during the course of the school year.

(11) To approve expenditures in the absence of a budget, consistent with state law.

(12) To employ a superintendent of schools and assign any compensation and other terms and conditions as the school committee and superintendent shall agree, provided that in no event shall the term of employment of the superintendent exceed three (3) years. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed as invalidating or impairing a contract of a school committee with a school superintendent in force on May 12, 1978.

(13) [Deleted by P.L. 2019, ch. 224, § 2 and P.L. 2019, ch. 259, § 2.]

(14) To establish minimum standards for personnel, to adopt personnel policies, and to approve a table of organization.

(15) To establish standards for the evaluation of personnel.

(16) To establish standards for conduct in the schools and for disciplinary actions.

(17) To hear appeals from disciplinary actions.

(18) To enter into contracts; provided, however, that notwithstanding any other provision of the general or public laws, whether of specific or general application, and notwithstanding the provisions of any charter of any municipality where the school committee is appointed and not elected, but not including, the Central Falls school district board of trustees established by § 16-2-34, the power and duty to enter into collective bargaining agreements shall be vested in the chief executive officer of the municipality and not in the school committee.

(19) To publish policy manuals that shall include all school committee policies.

(20) To establish policies governing curriculum, courses of instruction, and text books.

(21) To provide for transportation services that meet or exceed standards of the council on elementary and secondary education.

(22) To make any reports to the department of education as are required by the council on elementary and secondary education.

(23) To delegate, consistent with law, any responsibilities to the superintendent as the committee may deem appropriate.

(24) To address the health and wellness of students and employees.

(25) To establish a subcommittee of the school board or committee to decrease obesity and address school health and wellness policies for students and employees consistent with § 16-21-28.

(26) To annually undertake a minimum of six (6) hours of professional development as set forth and described in § 16-2-5.1.

(27) To establish policies governing the implementation of the incorporation of career and technical education programs into the kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) curricula that include knowledge of careers and all types of employment opportunities, including, but not limited to, registered apprenticeships in accordance with chapter 45 of title 28, and emphasizing the advantages of completing school with marketable skills.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or interfere with the rights of teachers and other school employees to collectively bargain pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title 28 or to allow any school committee to abrogate any agreement reached by collective bargaining.

(c) The elected school committees of each city, town, or regional school district, or the chief executive officer of any municipality having an appointed school committee, shall have the power to bind their successors and successor committees by entering into contracts of employment in the exercise of their governmental functions.

(d) Notwithstanding any provisions of the general laws to the contrary, the requirement defined in subsections (d) through (f) of this section shall apply. The school committee of each school district shall be responsible for maintaining a school budget that does not result in a debt.

(e) The school committee shall, within thirty (30) days after the close of the first and second quarters of the state’s fiscal year, adopt a budget as may be necessary to enable it to operate without incurring a debt, as described in subsection (d).

(f) In the event that any obligation, encumbrance, or expenditure by a superintendent of schools or a school committee is in excess of the amount budgeted or that any revenue is less than the amount budgeted, the school committee shall within five (5) working days of its discovery of potential or actual over expenditure or revenue deficiency submit a written statement of the amount of and cause for the over obligation or over expenditure or revenue deficiency to the city or town council president and any other person who by local charter or statute serves as the city or town’s executive officer; the statement shall further include a statement of the school committee’s plan for corrective actions necessary to meet the requirements of subsection (d). The plan shall be approved by the auditor general and also submitted to the division of municipal finance.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whether of general or specific application, and notwithstanding any contrary provision of any city or town charter or ordinance, the elected school committee of any city, town, and regional school district shall be, and is hereby authorized to retain, the services of independent legal counsel as it may deem necessary and convenient. Any counsel so retained shall be compensated out of funds duly appropriated to the school committee, and in no event shall the independent counsel be deemed to be an employee of the pertinent city or town for any purpose.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases, 1983–2020 · leading case: Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 60× “absence of specific language in the charter dealing with the issue of legal representation for the school committee, I am unable to join in an opinion that in effect holds that the General Assembly's ratification of the Johnston Town Charter (which contains notably unspecific…”
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). · cites it 14× “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
City of Cent. Falls v. Cent. Falls Teachers' Union, Rhode Island Council 94, Local 1627, 468 B.R. 36 (Bankr. D.R.I. 2012). · cites it 11× “The Teachers’ Union also contends that it is established and uncontroverted that "the School District can sue and be sued in its own name," but the Receiver disputes this, saying that although the School District has sued and been sued in its own name, the General Assembly has…”
East Providence Sch. Comm. v. Smith, 896 A.2d 49 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 12× “178, § 22 was a precursor to G.L.1956 § 16-2-9, which, like the current version of the statute, vested school committees with "the entire care, control, and management" of schools.”
Woonsocket Teachers' Guild, Local 951 v. Woonsocket Sch. Comm., 770 A.2d 834 (R.I. 2001). · cites it 4× “…its duties to the superintendent, and the superintendent has the same authority with respect to the principal. See G.L.1956 §§ 16-2-9(a)(23), 16-2-11.”
H. v. Collins Co. v. Tarro, 696 A.2d 298 (R.I. 1997). · cites it 10× “1956 § 45-55-5 and the Barrington Town Charter, section 16-2-9. For the reasons stated below, we sustain the appeal and reverse the judgment of the Superior Court.”
North Providence Sch. Comm. v. North Providence Fed'n of Teachers, Local 920, 945 A.2d 339 (R.I. 2008). · cites it 2× “The forcefulness of the language employed in G.L.1956 § 16-2-9(a) is especially noteworthy: “The entire care, control, and management of all public school interests of the several cities and towns shall be vested in the school committees of the several cities and towns.”
Coastal Recycling, Inc. v. Connors, 854 A.2d 711 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 4× “Section 16-2-9 of the Bar-rington Town Charter granted the Town Manager, or Superintendent of the Schools when the school department was involved, responsibility “for the purchase and sale of all materials, supplies, equipment and public improvements * * *.”
Asadoorian v. Warwick Sch. Comm., 691 A.2d 573 (R.I. 1997). · cites it 2× “School Committee of the City of Pawtucket, Commissioner of Education 4, 6 (August 1963); see also G.L.1956 §§ 16-2-9(a), 16-2-18 (the “entire care, control, and management of all * * * public school interests * * * shall be vested in the school committed ]”).”
Pawtucket Sch. Comm. v. Pawtucket Teachers' All., Local No. 930, 652 A.2d 970 (R.I. 1995). · cites it 3× “1956 (1988 Reenactment) § 16-2-9, as amended by P.L.1991, ch. 44, art.”
Exeter-West Greenwich Reg'l Sch. Dist. v. Exeter-West Greenwich Teachers' Ass'n, 489 A.2d 1010 (R.I. 1985). “When we read this section in conjunction with § 16-2-9(a) regarding employment contracts, which states unequivocally that it is “in the interest of public policy that the school committees of each city, town, or regional school district shall have the power to bind their…”
Sch. Comm. of the Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 912 A.2d 941 (R.I. 2007). “After purportedly satisfying the statutory conditions, plaintiffs filed a complaint in Superior Court seeking an additional appropriation from the town, which plaintiffs said was necessary to operate Johnston schools for the 2004-2005 school year and also to reduce its…”
Show all 18 citing cases →
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a) — 8 cases
Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006). “absence of specific language in the charter dealing with the issue of legal representation for the school committee, I am unable to join in an opinion that in effect holds that the General Assembly's ratification of the Johnston Town Charter (which contains notably unspecific…”
East Providence Sch. Comm. v. Smith, 896 A.2d 49 (R.I. 2006). “178, § 22 was a precursor to G.L.1956 § 16-2-9, which, like the current version of the statute, vested school committees with "the entire care, control, and management" of schools.”
North Providence Sch. Comm. v. North Providence Fed'n of Teachers, Local 920, 945 A.2d 339 (R.I. 2008). “The forcefulness of the language employed in G.L.1956 § 16-2-9(a) is especially noteworthy: “The entire care, control, and management of all public school interests of the several cities and towns shall be vested in the school committees of the several cities and towns.”
City of Cent. Falls v. Cent. Falls Teachers' Union, Rhode Island Council 94, Local 1627, 468 B.R. 36 (Bankr. D.R.I. 2012). “The Teachers’ Union also contends that it is established and uncontroverted that "the School District can sue and be sued in its own name," but the Receiver disputes this, saying that although the School District has sued and been sued in its own name, the General Assembly has…”
Asadoorian v. Warwick Sch. Comm., 691 A.2d 573 (R.I. 1997). “School Committee of the City of Pawtucket, Commissioner of Education 4, 6 (August 1963); see also G.L.1956 §§ 16-2-9(a), 16-2-18 (the “entire care, control, and management of all * * * public school interests * * * shall be vested in the school committed ]”).”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(10) — 1 case
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(13) — 1 case
David J. Alba v. Cranston Sch. Comm., 90 A.3d 174 (R.I. 2014).
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(18) — 2 cases
Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006). “absence of specific language in the charter dealing with the issue of legal representation for the school committee, I am unable to join in an opinion that in effect holds that the General Assembly's ratification of the Johnston Town Charter (which contains notably unspecific…”
City of Cent. Falls v. Cent. Falls Teachers' Union, Rhode Island Council 94, Local 1627, 468 B.R. 36 (Bankr. D.R.I. 2012). “The Teachers’ Union also contends that it is established and uncontroverted that "the School District can sue and be sued in its own name," but the Receiver disputes this, saying that although the School District has sued and been sued in its own name, the General Assembly has…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(23) — 1 case
Woonsocket Teachers' Guild, Local 951 v. Woonsocket Sch. Comm., 770 A.2d 834 (R.I. 2001). “…its duties to the superintendent, and the superintendent has the same authority with respect to the principal. See G.L.1956 §§ 16-2-9(a)(23), 16-2-11.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(3) — 3 cases
Woonsocket Teachers' Guild, Local 951 v. Woonsocket Sch. Comm., 770 A.2d 834 (R.I. 2001). “…its duties to the superintendent, and the superintendent has the same authority with respect to the principal. See G.L.1956 §§ 16-2-9(a)(23), 16-2-11.”
Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006). “absence of specific language in the charter dealing with the issue of legal representation for the school committee, I am unable to join in an opinion that in effect holds that the General Assembly's ratification of the Johnston Town Charter (which contains notably unspecific…”
Pawtucket Sch. Comm. v. Pawtucket Teachers' All., Local No. 930, 652 A.2d 970 (R.I. 1995). “1956 (1988 Reenactment) § 16-2-9, as amended by P.L.1991, ch. 44, art.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(6) — 1 case
Town of Johnston v. Santilli, 892 A.2d 123 (R.I. 2006). “absence of specific language in the charter dealing with the issue of legal representation for the school committee, I am unable to join in an opinion that in effect holds that the General Assembly's ratification of the Johnston Town Charter (which contains notably unspecific…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(a)(9) — 1 case
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(b) — 1 case
Smith v. Harris, 560 F. Supp. 677 (D.R.I. 1983).
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(d) — 1 case
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(e) — 1 case
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-9(f) — 1 case
Sch. Comm. v. Bergin-Andrews, 984 A.2d 629 (R.I. 2009). “This Court agrees with the trial justice that these reports do not rise to the level of affirmative action required of the school committee under G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9. First, these monthly fiscal reports do not provide "a written statement of * * * the cause for the over…”
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.