Priscilla Souza, a second-grade teacher at East Providence’s Whiteknacht School, joins other teachers union members as they protest in front of City Hall on Tuesday night before attending a school board meeting.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

EAST PROVIDENCE — The war between the city’s teachers and the School Committee continued Tuesday night as more than 250 picketed before a committee meeting at City Hall. The verbal sparring continued inside.

The teachers and their supporters, wearing bright red T-shirts, marched with posters questioning who runs the School Department: the School Committee? Or Mayor Joseph Larisa Jr. and committee lawyer Daniel Kinder?

Other signs called for “Negotiation, not litigation.”

The school board has spent $495,701 on legal expenses in the first seven months of this fiscal year. The total for all of last year was $294,696. Most of the litigation was filed by both sides after the committee in January imposed pay cuts and required teachers to start paying part of their health insurance costs.

Inside City Hall, where the sea of red T-shirts filled the council chamber and adjacent hallway, criticism of the committee’s new public-comment policy dominated the three-hour board session.

According to the policy, residents wishing to speak must sign up ahead of time and stick to the topic they listed. Speakers can talk about issues from the past, but are restricted from talking about items on the immediate agenda because the deadline to sign up to speak occurs before the agenda is released to the public.

“I’m really concerned about the timeliness of the policy,” said Valarie Lawson, president of the East Providence Education Association.

“This is not the time to break down communication,” said Paul E. Moura, a former state representative.

Moura presented a Democratic City Committee petition that “demands the School Committee revoke any policies that restrict public comment or questioning at School Committee meetings…” Nearly 1,100 residents signed the petition over the last couple of months.

As soon as Moura appeared to stray from his listed topic, committee Chairman Anthony Carcieri — who said the petition was “misleading” — told him he was out of order. Moura got a standing ovation when he countered that Carcieri and the board’s “style of leadership” were out of order.

“It doesn’t seem American to me,” another former General Assembly member, Sandra M. Barone, said of the policy. As she continued to discuss her concerns, Carcieri’s face became red and he shouted into his microphone, “We’re not restricting anyone. [The policy] is fair because all speakers are accommodated and the administrators are given advance notice [of the topics to be discussed].”

The chairman also said the committee isn’t obligated to let the public speak and that some people use the public comment segment to “try to intimidate” and “get an applause” from the audience.

Carcieri said setting aside time for public comment keeps the committee from doing the important work its members were elected to do.

“Not for long,” a parent wearing a red T-shirt shouted.

As Carcieri asked that he be removed, another parent next to him yelled, “East Providence teachers rule, yeah!”

Both left without incident.

Carcieri — who said his own shouting was because he was “passionate” and “spirited” about the issue — said, “All anyone wants to talk about is the public-comment policy.”

“That should tell you something,” Barone replied.

Later in the meeting, the committee accepted the retirement of George Babcock, the city’s longest-serving teacher. Babcock, on the faculty at the career and technical center, has taught for 52 years.

Also, Karen Mellen, an on-leave teacher, was picked to be the vocational school’s new director. Former director Charles B. “Chip” Rocha Jr. — placed on administrative leave in early March for alleged financial irregularities but cleared by the state police in May — retired.

The committee also recalled 52 of the 55 teachers who received layoff notices in late February. Lonnie Barham, the district’s chief operating officer, said three are not coming back because of “performance reasons.”

One of the 52, who was in the audience couldn’t hold back her emotions. She said they were happy tears.

apina@projo.com