PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island commissioner of education has ordered the Providence school district to restore art and music programs because the district is not in compliance with the state’s basic education plan.

In a strongly-worded letter, Commissioner Peter McWalters wrote, “It is clear that many students in the Providence public schools have no access to music instruction as a separate subject of study. This is particularly unacceptable given the regulation’s emphasis on access to music instruction for students with disabilities, students who are English language learners and students who are otherwise disadvantaged.”

The commissioner made a similar charge about art instruction, saying the schools don’t provide a comprehensive program of art instruction, including separate facilities for the creation, storage and display of works of arts, supplies and materials. There is no evidence, he said, that Providence high school students have access to the kinds of courses that provide in-depth work in art history, criticism and career education as is required by the basic education plan, which outlines the state’s education requirements.

McWalters did acknowledge that the Providence schools have sustained several years of budget cutbacks that resulted in the loss of numerous art and music teachers. He said, however, that budget constraints were no excuse for not meeting the state’s basic education plan.

“Without meaningful access to programming in the arts and music,” he wrote, “Providence public schools will have no prospect of fulfilling the graduation requirements for proficiency in the arts.”

Starting with the 2008 senior class, students will have to demonstrate their proficiency in a core curriculum that includes technology and the arts.

The commissioner also ordered the district to make its libraries available to all students on a daily basis. Students in some elementary schools have access to the library only on specific days because the librarian is using her room to teach.

The state Department of Education began looking into the district’s arts curriculum after the Providence Teachers Union filed a complaint with the commissioner’s office last year. The union charged that the School Department was violating the state’s basic education plan by failing to offer art and music in all public schools.

“This couldn’t happen in a district like East Greenwich,” said Steve Smith, president of the city teachers union. McWalters’ order is “definitely a win for the children of Providence because it says that they should be treated the same way that children from the rest of the state are treated.”

Starting with a series of budget shortfalls in 2002, the School Department laid off more than 200 teachers, many of them instructors in art and music. The losses played out in many different ways. At Vartan Gregorian Elementary School, 30 violins gathered dust because the orchestra was eliminated.

“Currently, all of our students do not have access to art and music,” Smith said. “In some cases, students have access to one but not the other. In other cases, there is no art or music at all.”

Some schools have itinerant art teachers who travel from school to school, bringing their supplies with them.

McWalters said he is aware of the severe budget constraints facing the district, but he also said that a lack of money isn’t a defense against the failure to provide programs required by the basic education plan.

The district has 30 days to come up with a plan to restore the arts. Supt. Donnie Evans said the department will file its response by Jan. 7. Evans said he was very dissatisfied with the level of arts programs when he arrived in Providence last fall and said he has been discussing this issue with McWalters on a regular basis.

“I was totally surprised,” Evans said, referring to the lack of arts programs. “A quality instruction includes not only the core curriculum but the fine arts, so our children can appreciate all that life has to offer.”

Evans said that Deputy Supt. Frances Gallo and others are working on an arts and music curriculum to submit to the commissioner.