The state attorney general’s office is ordering school officials in Croydon to stop using public money to pay for private school tuition.
The Croydon school district is paying tuition for roughly a half-dozen students to attend a local private school.
This has been presented as an option for parents since last September, after the district ended its agreement to send students fifth grade and up to schools in Newport.
The state Department of Education had warned the town this spring that using taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition was against the law.
Croydon school officials have been defiant, however, and continued the practice this school year.
That’s when the attorney general’s office stepped in, sending the town a letter last week, ordering the practice to stop.
Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards gave the town 20 days to hand over any money raised for public education to the local district.
