After five years, Providence Superintendent Montañez to leave post

Providence Public Schools Superintendent Javier Montañez is stepping down from his post after leading Rhode Island’s largest school district for five years.

Montañez announced his departure on Friday, just shy of the four-month anniversary of the district regaining local control of its schools.

“After laying the foundation, it’s now time for me to move on and allow the next generation of leaders to take Providence Public Schools to the next level,” Montañez said in a statement provided by the district.

District spokesperson Alex Torres-Perez said Friday afternoon that the official resignation date hasn’t been set yet, as Montañez is still in discussions with the School Board to finalize his departure. In the meantime, Montañez will continue overseeing the district.

“The decision for the superintendent to resign was entirely his,” Torres-Perez said. “He notified District leadership and the School Board this morning.”

Financial details about Montañez’s departure, such as possible severance or continued benefits, were not disclosed by the district Friday, but the superintendent’s current contract runs through June 2027.

Except for the last few months, Montañez’s tenure took place entirely during the seven years the Rhode Island Department of Education had control over the capital city’s schools. His exit follows continued disputes and several shakeups in the upper echelons of Providence schools leadership, including a recent attempt to oust the school board’s president and the resignation of several senior administrators.

“It is my hope that no matter the circumstances and challenges, district leaders continue to put students first in all their decisions,” Montañez said in his statement.

A job posting for the interim superintendent position is expected to go live early next week, according to a letter sent out Friday by board President Ty’Relle Stephens, who said the board will seek out qualified internal candidates first before searching outside the district, if necessary.

Montañez is a product of the Providence school system himself. He experienced homelessness as a youth and struggled with illiteracy and dyslexia as a teenager, and would sometimes attend school only for the meals it provided. He dropped out of Hope High School, but later obtained his GED and went on to get a master’s degree in education from Rhode Island College and a doctorate in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University.

Montañez began working in the Providence school system in 1996 as a bilingual teacher at what was then Laurel Hill Elementary School, now known as Spaziano Elementary School. He climbed the ranks to eventually serve as the school’s assistant principal and then principal, before heading to Leviton Dual Language School to serve as its principal for a decade.

In 2021, two years after Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green took control of the struggling school district in 2019, Montañez became superintendent.

In his letter Friday, Stephens thanked Montañez for his decades of service to the district.

“His commitment to our students, our schools, and our community has not gone unnoticed,” Stephens wrote. “And his historic leadership as the first Hispanic male to serve as Superintendent of our district represents an important milestone in our city’s history.”

Stephens noted the board has recently and consciously tried to “strengthen communication, set aside our differences, and renew our focus on the responsibilities we share. I remain confident in our Board’s ability to find common ground, move forward together, and get back to work on behalf of the students of Providence while ensuring a smooth transition.”

Infante-Green issued her own statement Friday on Montañez’s departure, noting that it left her “deeply saddened” to see him go.

The commissioner credited Montañez’s leadership with improved graduation rates, reductions in chronic absenteeism and the betterment of school facilities in the district.

Providence’s four-year graduation rate rose from 73.6% in 2019 to 79.4% in 2024, although it dipped back down to 77% for the class of 2025, according to recent education department data.

The district’s chronic absenteeism rate fell from a pandemic-era peak of 57.1% in the 2021-2022 school year to 25.3% in the 2025-2026 school year. At least six new or significantly renovated school buildings — part of districtwide facilities investment of around $1 billion — opened during the takeover and Montañez’s tenure.

“None of these accomplishments came easily, but Dr. Montañez not only believed in the potential of Providence students, he worked tirelessly to help make the district a destination for education,” Infante-Green wrote.