De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School Files Motion for Preliminary Injunction Asking Federal Court to Immediately Block Rhode Island’s Charter Moratorium

The school says it was intentionally and unlawfully targeted by Governor Dan McKee, House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski, Senate President Valarie Lawson and the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.  

PROVIDENCE, RI – De La Comunidad Bilingual Charter Public School filed a motion Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island asking the court to immediately block enforcement of the state’s new charter school moratorium, arguing the law was written specifically to keep their approved school from ever opening.  

The 32-page motion and memorandum of law, filed in support of the school’s federal lawsuit against the state on July 27, argues the moratorium violates the Contract Clause and due process guarantees of both the U.S. and Rhode Island Constitutions, and that the state should be equitably stopped from enforcing the law against a school that relied in good faith on its earlier approval. It asks the court to recognize De La Comunidad’s approved charter application and allow the school to complete the final steps toward opening while the underlying case proceeds. 

“After a lengthy, competitive review process, the Defendant Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education (the “Council”) approved De La Comunidad’s charter application on January 5, 2026, and granted it a preliminary charter,” the filing states. “In reliance on that approval, De La Comunidad incorporated as a nonprofit, obtained federal tax-exempt status, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding, identified a facility, hired leadership, and completed nearly every pre-opening task required for final authorization to operate. Then, the Defendants changed the rules.”  

It further argues those rules were changed at the behest of the teachers’ unions to specifically target De La Comunidad, while carving out an exception for the expansion of another charter public school.

“They simultaneously crafted exceptions for others while refusing similar relief for Plaintiffs,” the filing states. “Such arbitrary and targeted governmental action is precisely the type of executive and legislative abuse that substantive due process forbids.”  

The filing cites previous pension cases in arguing that the statutory scheme, the request for proposals, and the approval of De La Comunidad’s application established a contract between the school and state, and that the moratorium legislation unconstitutionally impaired that contract by extinguishing DLC’s approval and charter.

“This moratorium didn’t come out of nowhere. It came after the teachers’ unions targeted this school publicly and by name,” said Joshua Laplante, founding superintendent of De La Comunidad Bilingual. “The state answered by signing a law designed to lock us out for good.” 

Without court intervention, the school says it stands to lose an entire academic year it cannot get back. De La Comunidad responded to a request for proposals and submitted a 250-page response, which was approved with conditions. The school then began fulfilling those conditions, a process that, in the past, has been treated as merely procedural. The moratorium voids the approval entirely, which the school argues is an impairment of contract. 

“We’re asking the court to hold the state to the promise it already made,” said Carol Aguasvivas, De La Comunidad board chair. “Every day this moratorium stands is a day our families wait on a school that should be opening.”

De La Comunidad Bilingual was designed to be Rhode Island’s first K-12 dual language full-service community school, serving Latino and multilingual families in Providence, Pawtucket and Cranston.  

A hearing date on the motion has not been set.  

About De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School 

De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School, a full-service bilingual charter public school that will serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade in Providence, Pawtucket, and Cranston, prepares students to graduate bilingual and biliterate, college-ready, and engaged in their communities through rigorous academics, bilingual instruction, and comprehensive family supports. The school's vision is rooted in the belief that language is power and that every child deserves access to an education that honors who they are and where they come from. Learn more at dlcbilingual.org.