Master Planning Process and School Construction Phase

**SCHOOL BONDS
$150,000,000 BONDS AND NOTES
(Adopted by the Town Council August 15, 2023)
*(BALLOT TO BE PART OF ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 7, 2023) *

"Shall the Town of East Greenwich issue General Obligation Bonds and/or Notes in a Principal Amount not to exceed $150,000,000 for the Purpose of Financing the Acquisition, Construction, Improvement, Renovation, Alteration, Furnishing and Equipping of Public Schools and School Facilities in the Town and all Attendant Expenses Including, but Not Limited to, Costs of Design, Demolition, Athletic Fields, Landscaping, Parking, and Costs of Financing which Schools shall include but not Limited to: a New Build Replacement for the Frenchtown Elementary School, Additions and Renovations or a New Build Replacement for the Hanaford Elementary School, Renovations and Improvements to the Meadowbrook Elementary School, and Additions and Renovations to the East Greenwich High School?”

The East Greenwich School Building Committee

Alyson Powell, Chair, EG School Committee, Co-Chair, School Building Committee (apowell@egsd.net)
Kevin Murphy, Member, EG School Committee, Co-Chair, School Building Committee (kmurphy@egsd.net)
Tim Munoz, Member, EG School Committee (tmunoz@egsd.net)
Brian Ricca, Superintendent, EG Public Schools (bricca@egsd.net)
Michael Podraza, Assistant Superintendent, EG Public Schools (mpodraza@egsd.net)
Robert Wilmarth, Director of Facilities, EG Public Schools (rwilmarth@egsd.net)
Maggie Baker, Director of Finance, Operations & Administration, EG Public Schools (mbaker@egsd.net)
Neil Marcaccio, Director of Student Services, EG Public Schools (nmarcaccio@egsd.net)
Mark Schwager, President, EG Town Council (mschwager@eastgreenwichri.com)
Renu Englehart, Member, EG Town Council (renglehart@eastgreenwichri.com)
Andy Nota, Town Manager (anota@eastgreenwichri.com)
Robert Siminski, Community Member (rsiminski@aol.com)
Matthew Tsimikas, Community Member (mtsimikas@trusthillrealestate.com)

School Contruction Committee (Effective March 2024)

The School Building Committee is now transitioning to a School Construction Committee as approved by the Town Council by ordinance in compliance with Town Charter, and legislatively aprpvoed Bond Act. The commitee is made up of the following individuals, that will guide this project in an advisory capacity for the Town Council and School Commitee as the Town Council makes numerous financial decisions associated with the construction of the noted improvements, and in meeting the educational priorites as established by the School Building Committee.

1. Mark Schwager - Town Council President
2. Micheal Donegan - V.P Town Council
3. Andrew E. Nota, Town Manager
4. Patricia Sunderland - Town Finance Director
5. Albert Ranaldi - Town Planning Director / Fred Gomes DPW Director
6. Alyson Powell - School Committee Chairperson
7. Will Hangan - School Committee Member
8. Thomas Kenworthy- School Superintendent
9. Bob Wilmarth - Director of School Facilities
10. Coleen Smith - School Principal
11. David LaPlante - Public Member

**This commitee will remain in place through the completion of this project in 2029.

Special Project Link provided by Consultant Team on each main project for continual project udpates: https://eastgreenwichprojects.com/

*** Timeline Summary and Steps: ***
In 2017, a newly constituted School Facilities Committee began working with representatives of the School Committee and School Administration, Town Council and Town Administration as well as our professional teams with the support and guidance of a School Consultant to better understand the school building rehabilitation and expansion needs of our community. The formation of this local Committee emanated from the States managment and release of the Jacobs Report, a report that included a comprehensive facility conditions assessment with recommendations for all Rhode Island Public Schools. Through that detailed process, it became clear to local School and Municipal Officials, that many school buildings were in need of immediate attention, in order for the District to continue providing sufficient and adequate educational space to support quality of education programs offered to our resident student population. The District makeup today presently consists of buildings built in 1927 Eldredge, 1958 Hannaford, 1964 Frenchtown, 1969 High School, 1969 Meadowbrook and 2011 Cole Middle School.

At the time this process began, the Facilities Committee advertised for a consultant to assist with this process, including the review of building space programs and the development of conceptual alternatives for the various projects under consideration. The School Committee ultimately selected, Colliers Project Leaders, to develop a comprehensive Master Plan to identify district-wide facilities related needs and develop options for addressing them. Colliers representatives subsequently engaged in a process for the district involving, a Facilities Conditions Assessment, Space Qualification & Utilization Analysis, Program Modernization Planning, and Enrollment Impact Analysis. The integration of this information formed the basis of the master planning process to guide future capital investments in the district. The Facilities Conditions Assessment (FCA) represented an important element of this study, in evaluating all East Greenwich Schools. It was designed to identify deferred maintenance exposures across all school buildings and grounds. This comprehensive study continued in using a methodology that ranked all deferred maintenance into a series of Priority Rankings, including, Priority 1 - High, Priority 2 - Important and Priority 3 - Deferrable. This assessment was used to provide a detailed listing of the districts immediate needs, although was not initially designed to address capacity and space utilization challenges, adherence and compliance with RIDE education standards, or the buildings functional capacity limitations.

Since this initial assessment, several significant steps have been taken in 2020, 2021 and 2022, placing the District and Town in a position to prepare for the submittal of a Stage 2 - School Construction Application to the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) on or before September 2023. During this time, the School Department in compliance with RIDE requirements for the Necessity of Construction Program, formed a School Building Committee (SBC), made up of various School and Town officials, professional staff, as well as select members of the community to lead and guide the next phase of this structured process. The process and the SBC represent the aspects of the intiative that the community has heard most about, as this process has provided for structured discussion on grade realignment, the conditons assessment, present and long-term district needs, educational requirements, enrollment projections, contemplation of new construction as well as consolidation including school closures, as well as other aspects of community impact like local real estate housing influences, debt and tax impact. As noted above, there has now been a transition from the School Building Committee (SBC) to a School Construction Committee (SCC) to address the specific oversight responsibilities for the proejct during the upcoming construction phase and to address the projects fiscal requirements of the project as noted in the Bond Act language and as authorized by the Town Council.

The newly formed School Construction Committee is expected to hold its first organizational meeting on April 11, 2024.

The information provided on this site will include all background materials on the School Master Planning Process and specific elements and timeline for the Construction Phase. This information is continuing to evolve and change throughout our interaction with RIDE and this is expected to continue in Stage 3 in the coming months as the community has officially submitted its Stage 2 application and as of May 28, 2024 has received Department of Education (RIDE) approval on the Towns Stage 2 submittal. This will now lead the project into Stage 3, where final project design will be completed, OPM, Construction Management and Design/Architectural services will be secured and contracts finalized as the work-team to lead this project.

The SCC has been conducting interviews with the CM-Design Build and OPM service firms that have qualified to apply for these two awards. The SCC interviewed (5) CM firms that were teamed with an archtectural partner firm and an additional (4) OPM firms. The SCC is presenting recommendations to the Town Council on Monday, June 17, 2024 for Town Council consideration in awarding these two important agreements. The contracts will not be awarded until negotiations are concluded with Town officials and special legal counsel secured to assist with this process.

January 12, 2026

Nearly a year and a half since this earlier discussion involving consultant hiring, (Consigli Construction, Ai3 Architects and LeftField - OPM) and all major Guaranteed Maximum Procing Contracts (GMP)school contracts have been awarded and are presently in sync with alignment of budget and educational programs as outlined by the School District and the School Construction Committee. In addition, all major RIDE approvals are in place after the 60% design was approved with plans today at 100% full design, as services are being bid out and buyout agreements negotiated with subcontractors. All three main sites at Hanaford and Frenchtown Elementary and the High School are being prepared for ground breaking in Janaury 2026. Additional planning and construction updates will follow in the coming months as site work begins.