WPRO News and The Associated Press

The Community College of Rhode Island is laying off 45 full-time, non-faculty staff and is looking at other cost-cutting measures in response to economic challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, while a member of the General Assembly labeled the layoffs as “cruel”.

President Meghan Hughes also asked the Council on Postsecondary Education to approve furloughs equal to a salary reduction of between 3% and 5% for all nonunion Board of Education employees who earn more than $65,000, The Providence Journal reported Tuesday.

The public college, which has five campuses, had already halted cost-of-living increases for the 2021 fiscal year.

“As you know, the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis have created significant financial challenges for the college, and our approach to this crisis will continue to be based on preserving the institutional health of the college while causing the least possible harm to our community,” Hughes wrote.

CCRI’s enrollment is 9% lower than last year’s enrollment of 14,775 students. That means a $4 million decline in tuition revenue from what was originally budgeted, Hughes said.

Labeling the layoffs, “cruel, aggressive and unnecessary,” State Senator Sam Bell called on the Raimondo administration to reverse the layoffs.

“They are doing this so it is a fait accompli, so that it’s already done,” Bell, (D-Providence), told WPRO’s Tara Granahan.

“I think it’s authoritarian, and I think it’s cruel to families, and I really think they should stop making these layoffs,” said Bell, who said the General Assembly has not yet taken up the budget for either the current year or for the fiscal year that begins next July 1.