Providence City Council votes to overturn Elorza’s veto of hybrid elected school board

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence City Council held a special meeting Wednesday, voting to overturn Mayor Jorge Elorza’s veto of a new city charter proposal.

The vetoed for a hybrid elected school board would create five regions in Providence, with two board members per region.

Right now, all school board members are nominated. Under the proposed board, five would be nominated by the mayor, and the other five elected.

City Council President John Igliozzi previously told ABC 6 News that by allowing community members to elect school board members, they would be able to work toward fixing a struggling school system.

However, Elorza said he stands with education leaders and parents by vetoing the proposal.

“In fact I think it’s a terrible idea. Elected school boards are no better than appointed ones. And there’s just no evidence that shows that this is what we need here,” said Elorza. “We have all kinds of challenges, and our schools have been failing our kids for decades. There’s a lot that we need to do but this is just a distraction from the real changes that are needed.”

Prior to Elorza’s veto, the elected school board question would have been added to the November ballot for residents to vote on.