Students from St. Brendan School, in East Providence, wait for the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee hearing to begin yesterday. The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — A perennial debate about whether cash-strapped local school districts should have to pay the busing and textbook costs of private and parochial school students emerged again this week, in the form of a last-minute bill submitted by Providence lawmakers that would stop the long-standing practice.

The House Health, Education and Welfare Committee voted against the measure, which attracted nearly 200 Catholic and private school supporters yesterday to the State House.

But none of those who came out had an opportunity to testify before the vote. State Rep. Thomas Winfield, D-Smithfield, immediately recommended the committee vote against the bill. The committee voted 10 to 1 in favor of Winfield’s motion.

Submitted by Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, late last week at the urging of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, the bill had proposed eliminating several services currently provided to private and parochial schools by the state and local school districts: transportation, textbooks, some school nursing services and crossing guards.

The state Department of Education estimates that local school districts statewide spent $5.8 million on busing non-public school students in fiscal year 2007, and the state reimbursed districts about $700,000 for textbooks for non-public school students.

The state does not keep track of other expenses, such as school bus monitors, school nurses or crossing guards, according to a department spokesman. (Non-public schools generally hire their own school nurses or rely on parents who are nurses to volunteer; local school districts are expected to cover some nursing costs associated with screenings and maintaining medical records.)

Given the state’s $425-million budget deficit, the state and local school districts can no longer afford to cover these services for private and Catholic school students, Ajello said.

“For the past few years, we have been essentially level-funding education, and because of those rising costs, that really means we are decreasing funding for public education,” Ajello said.

She added that Providence officials estimate that the city gives as much as $3.3 million a year to non-public schools for these services. City schools are facing a $6.9-million gap for the coming year.

Catholic school leaders counter that providing busing and textbooks to parochial and private school students is fair, as their parents pay taxes that support public schools. Non-public schools help keep public school costs down for everyone, they say.

There are 51 Catholic schools in Rhode Island, attended by 16,000 students, and several dozen private schools that educate about 11,000 more students. Both Catholic and private schools, such as the Moses Brown, Lincoln and Wheeler schools in Providence, are eligible for the free services.

If busing and textbook costs were passed on to non-public school students, tuitions at Catholic and private schools would probably rise. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of parochial school students could end up attending local public schools, which would strain local school budgets, said Lillian McIntyre, assistant superintendent for the Diocese of Providence.

“We need to send a message loud and clear that a bill like this would have a sweeping effect, not just on the well-heeled but also on the poor, as many low-income families send their children to our schools,” McIntyre said.

“Supporters of this bill are implying this will save money for public schools, but that is flawed logic. They’re not taking into account the schools that will close and where those students will end up.”

La Salle Academy, in Providence, has 1,450 students, about 450 of whom are eligible for free bus transportation based on where they live, said Principal Don Kavanagh. The state is divided into five busing regions, so if students live outside of a particular region, they do not receive free bus service. La Salle students from Warwick, Burrillville and South Kingstown, for example, rely on parents, carpools and other forms of transportation to get to school.

If the state and local school districts stopped providing busing and textbooks to LaSalle students, those costs would be passed on to students and their families, Kavanagh said. Current tuition is $10,650 a year, and about 30 percent of the student body receives financial aid.

“This bill is just bad public policy,” Kavanagh said. “It’s regressive. It will hurt the poor and the working class. Middle-class families could pay a bit more. But low-income families can’t.”

With staff reports from Philip Marcelo

jjordan@projo.com