Chariho Polling Residents on School Building Options

Chariho Polling Residents on School Building Options
By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

July 6th 2023

WOOD RIVER JCT. – Richmond residents, along with residents of Charlestown and Hopkinton, are being asked to fill out surveys indicating their priorities for capital improvements to the four elementary schools in the Chariho Regional School District.

The survey asks respondents which of three options they would prefer:

1: Keeping all four elementary schools, Richmond, Charlestown, Hope Valley and Ashaway, and doing only the necessary maintenance to keep the buildings “warm, safe and dry.”

2: A capital plan that will ensure that schools are equipped for 21st Century learning, which is described in the survey as “… an educational infrastructure that responds to the economical, technological and community shifts that are happening.” This plan would include significant infrastructure upgrades.

3. A consolidation plan, involving the construction of one new elementary school for each town.

There is also a fourth space for residents to write in their own preference, if it is not among the three options.

Why do the elementary schools need upgrades?

The four elementary school buildings are old and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain.

Richmond and Hope Valley Elementary Schools were built 88 years ago. Charlestown Elementary is 73 years old and Ashaway Elementary is 56.

One of the most significant developments in education is the extensive use of technology. School Committee Chair Catherine Giusti provided an example of one of the infrastructure issues: a lack of electrical outlets. That may not have been a problem back in the 1950s or ‘60s, but the district now issues a laptop to every student from Kindergarten to Grade 12, in the 1:1 program.

“There are two outlets per classroom in Richmond,” she said. What do you do with two outlets? I don’t have a room in my house that has two outlets. So, they have their smart board plugged into one outlet, well, now they’re all on the 1:1. Some classes are still 2:1, but in the 1:1 initiative, God forbid a kid forgets to plug his laptop in. Now he’s sitting on the floor, next to the outlet. 

The capital improvement plans

State law requires all school districts to submit capital improvement plans. Chariho’s annual plan, submitted on June 30, focuses on maintenance, health and safety.

A five-year capital plan is also required under state law.

“We have two things going on,” Chariho Finance Director Ned Draper said. “We have an annual capital budget, which is part of our routine budget process. We do that each year. And then, we also have a draft five-year capital plan, which is really the focus of the survey, which is finding out from the community, how do we want that five-year capital plan to look.”

Public input sought

In addition to the survey, which is available on the Chariho website, residents were invited to tour each elementary school at walk-throughs that took place during the month of June.

“It was eye-opening, I hope, to all the participants just how old our buildings are, and what an exceptional job our maintenance staff has done in keeping up with cleaning and maintain the buildings,” Giusti said. “But, at a certain point, there’s nothing that can be done. They’re just old.”

The four school tours were poorly attended, however, and additional tours may be offered in the fall.

“It was disappointing to me how few people came to the walk-throughs, because I think it was an excellent opportunity for people to really see,” Giusti said.

Newer and Fewer

In 2021, the School Committee approved a plan that would have replaced all four elementary schools with a single, large school. Residents, who were also surveyed at that time, opposed the idea of one large school, preferring small neighborhood schools. Opponents of a single large school dubbed it the “factory in the field,” and the consolidation proposal went nowhere.

But as it did in 2021, the Rhode Island Department of Education, (RIDE) still favors the “newer and fewer” approach to school buildings, offering higher financial incentives for consolidation.

Draper explained that additional state funds, or bonuses, are allocated to projects that align with RIDE’s priorities.

“The bonuses depend on which path you take,” he said. “So, for instance, newer and fewer is a bonus option, there’s safety and health as well as security. Those are different bonus areas, but you need to choose your path. So, if your path is newer and fewer, which, as you know, was an issue that the community seemed uncomfortable with, you may not want that. If the community says ‘we don’t want that,’ then that bonus wouldn’t be something we’d be eligible for anyway.”

After discussing five-year capital improvement options and state funding opportunities at the April 25 meeting, members of the School Committee agreed that the district should consider several options and involve the community in the process.

Giusti promised that this time, the committee would listen to residents.

“I hope that the community understands that we have to do something here, and we want to partner with the community in a better way than we did before, to really get an idea what the community wants their schools to look like,” she said. “We’re really just at the beginning of that process.”

Major school projects are expected to be a hard sell to residents. Voters in Richmond and Hopkinton rejected the proposed 2023 Chariho spending plan, not once, but twice, resulting in its defeat.

At the April School Committee meeting, Charlestown member

Craig Louzon urged the committee to ensure that public input remains a priority.

“One option is the extreme – the factory in the field,” he said. “Another option is do nothing, but at least the taxpayer, or stakeholders, should have a say… We’re not doing our job if we just kick the can down the road. We should at least let them decide.”