It sure looks like the state takeover of one school district is on the fast-track for ending, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the other.

All signs point to this being the year that Central Falls will reclaim its school district after 35 years of state control after finally earning the support for ending the takeover from Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.

But Infante-Green hasn’t yet signed off on returning the Providence schools to Mayor Brett Smiley and the city’s school board this summer, and the state currently has the authority to maintain control of the district through October 2027.

Start with Central Falls.

The district has been under state control since 1991, and Mayor Maria Rivera has made it her top priority to take back the district before she leaves office. (She is currently term-limited after 2028, although she is supporting a proposed change to the city charter that would allow her to serve another term).

A study commission released a report last week that recommended the school district return to Central Falls’ control beginning in July, with the city committing to gradually increasing its contribution to the school system from $167,000 next year to $3.9 million a year by 2043.

Rivera’s team took a methodical approach, studying the issue, mapping out a plan, and winning the support from Governor Dan McKee’s office, House and Senate leadership, and finally Infante-Green.

Legislation that would return the schools to Central Falls this year is expected to be approved by both the House and Senate in the coming weeks.

Providence has taken a different approach.

The state took control of the school district in 2019 when Gina Raimondo was still governor, a move that was initially supported by then-mayor Jorge Elorza. But Elorza clashed with Infante-Green and Raimondo’s successor, McKee, in part because the state was unable to win significant contractual changes with the city’s teachers’ union.

Smiley succeeded Elorza as mayor in 2023, and fought a prolonged legal battle over school funding (the city eventually agreed to a significant funding increase) and has publicly been critical of the takeover.

Infante-Green has raised concerns about the city’s brash approach – especially from the school board – and both McKee and House Speaker Joe Shekarchi have sided with the commissioner so far.

There is legislation pending that would terminate the current plan to return the schools in October 2027, but it doesn’t appear to have the same momentum that the Central Falls bill has.