March 29, 2024

New EP High School Discussed?

Fixing the Current 63 Year Old Bldg. For Now.

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After meeting for more than two hours on Monday night, the East Providence City Council and School Committee agreed that something must be done to address the needs of the 63 year old East Providence High School. Recently the school experienced problems with heating pipes leaking underneath the school which led to some boiler shutdowns. Unfortunately the mishaps occurred during a cold spell right after December vacation as students and staff returned to a frigid building. "We certainly consider the situation at hand to be at an emergency level," Superintendent of schools Kathryn Crowley told the both elective boards on Monday night.

"Tonight is a working session between the city council and school committee," said mayor Tom Rose. "This has been an issue for almost 30 years. It's not to blame the people here, but we can work to make it (high school physical issues) better. "We should start by fixing the heating system and then address other needs. Do we continue to repair or build a new school," asked Rose. "For now we still have to fix things," he added.

The meeting was sparsely attended with mostly school administrators and a couple of teachers present. "It's great to see the Superintendent and staff here. This is a vital issue to our community," said school board chairman Charles Tsonos. "I also want to thank the City Manager and city council for their cooperation. We can't do this alone. We are at a crossroads and we need to move forward together," said Tsonos.

While Tsonos offered a promising note of "working together" many of the group's questions were left somewhat unanswered, specifically, through the evening. City manager Richard Kirby stated that the joint session was a result of an October meeting when an analytical review of the educational status of the high school was requested. "The discussion went from the funding ratio the schools get from the city to the physical problems of the schools," said Kirby. "A sub-committee consisting of councilmen Helder Cunha and Tim Conley and school board members Charlie Tsonos and Tony Ferreira met along with city staffers and two citizens," offered Kirby.

Kirby described how the group conducted a "one and a half hour walk through of the high school, heard a report on prior repairs, code issues, etc." Kirby said the group recommends that an independent outside engineering consultant conduct a feasibility study on the high school plant. "The issue of spending more money to fix serious problems versus building a new high school should be professionally addressed," Kirby added. The group basically agreed that a Request For Proposal or RFP will be developed and sent out immediately. The feasibility study will present the city leaders with an array of information such as timelines, financing, bonding, etc. We're not qualified to decide on a new building versus fixing the old," said Kirby.

However some officials wanted specific answers on current problems. "Before discussing a new school we need to address problems the school is having at this time," said ward one councilman Bob Britto. "It's no big secret," said ward four councilman Tim Conley who has also served on the school committee. "The high school accreditation was in jeopardy for the sole reason of the physical plant. The school's academics are fine," said Conley. "The conversation should be how can we get a new high school in ten years. I don't want to talk about anything bad, but previous school administrations did not address the issues."

"Our biggest concern with the high school is the cost of new versus fixing the old," said ward two councilman Helder Cunha. "Plumbing, electrical, mechanical are big issues. We're not plumbers and electricians. Certainly we need to invest money in the high school," Cunha added. The group was advised that a feasibility study would cost between $75,000 and $125,000.

"I've been under the building. We have rotting pipes under dirt," said school board member Jessica Beauchaine.

"We all agreed that we need to check on building a new high school down the road," said school board member Joel Monteiro. "But for now we know we have immediate needs," he said. Monteiro pushed the council all evening to commit on how much money, if any, they were prepared to spend on the school's needs. "Is the city positioned to help us now?" Monteiro repeatedly asked. He didn't receive a direct answer. "There is serious investment needed no matter what we do."

Much of the night was spent on discussing numbers. Answers were not readily available in any specific form. "Is there a number (cost) to fix the heating problems," asked Rose. "I know there were boilers replaced in 2010," he added. "Are we talking two or three hundred thousand or three million dollars?" Rose asked. There was no specific answer.

"We have a school committee meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) and we will be looking to start a feasibility study on what we need," said Superintendent Crowley. "Can we get an estimate for our next meeting," asked Rose. School officials said that they would do that.

Councilwoman-at-large Tracy Capobianco attempted at several points to get a specific timeline on dates and costs. "We are here to support schools and education. There is no way not too," said Capobianco. "We need the figures."

"We owe it to the city council to draft a 5 year plan. We've done something but not everything we need to," said school board member Nathan Cahoon. "The high school is also one of twelve school buildings. We also need to consider the needs of all other schools as well," said Cahoon.

"I've worked on and supervised major renovations on schools in four other districts," said Crowley. "There are serious electrical and plumbing needs. We do need a professional engineering study. We have one science lab, although a great one, for 1500 students. The plumbing system is all clogged, the underground cavern of the school is amazing. There will be asbestos abatement needed, we have duct tape on some window frames to stop drafty windows, we must do something quickly. We have great teachers, it's the plant that is lacking. In my experience we are talking millions of dollars here. All of the other schools I refer to were not as old as this high school," Crowley added.

Cahoon brought up the thought that should the city consider building two high schools if new building is to occur. "Large districts have more than one school," Cahoon noted. However school officials point out to long term enrollment projections which continue to show declining or level enrollment census.

Much of the discussion ended on the possibility of the city using some of its' surplus or rainy day fund for immediate repairs at the high school. "There are restrictions on the rainy day fund that don't allow it to be used for schools," said Tim Conley. "There are only 4 instances for emergency funding from the rainy day fund and schools are not one of them," said Conley. "I didn't write this, it's the requirement as written."

The rainy day fund that the city must maintain is one percent of budget totals or $10 million. Because the fund has reached $13.2 million there was much discussion on using anything available above $10 million. The city has already earmarked about $2.2 million for capital projects already in the budget.

"There is $1 million left over the ten. Can't we use that for the schools," asked Capobianco. City officials were hesitant to answer the question but when state overseer Paul Luba was asked, his answer was "yes." " get your costs in order first," said Luba.

Tony Ferreira of the school committee asked, "are we leaving here tonight with any money?" "You'll know after our next council meeting. We need the school department to give us an estimate and we'll (council) check on the money," said Mayor Rose.

After the meeting Joel Monteiro was hopeful for a resolution to the high school issues: "The School Dept will immediately seek quotes to address heating needs. The city committed to finding funds, although was a bit unclear on what funds are available. Thank you to Council members Capobianco and Britto for pushing Mayor Rose and his Finance staff for a definitive answer, albeit unsuccessfully. Even they seem unclear on the availability of the surplus. What's important is that funding was promised. We just don't know how much," stated Monteiro.

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