#MiddletownRI gets more good news about a proposed $190 million middle-high school, with state reimbursements on the rise for the project, meaning more money in taxpayers' pockets.
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CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
STATE REIMBURSEMENTS FOR NEW SCHOOL ON THE RISE
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JULY 10, 2023) – Two and a half percent might not sound like a lot.
But when you’re talking about reimbursements to the Town of Middletown if a new $190 million middle-high school is approved by voters on Nov. 7, those numbers certainly add up.
Recently, the town learned its hard work with the General Assembly netted an additional 2.5 percent in reimbursements for the project, bringing that total to 55 percent. In everyday language, that means more money in taxpayers’ pockets and 55 cents back on every dollar spent on the project just north of the existing Gaudet Middle School.
As important, the town’s independent financial analysts — Hilltop Advisors — said with the increases, Middletown would further reduce stressing its bonding capabilities should the project be okayed at the special election.
“We have a lot of people to say ‘Thank you!’ for their work on this,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. “While we would have loved to get the reimbursement up to 65 percent, every bit helps and (Hilltop Advisors) say we’re now well within the guardrails of our bonding capabilities, which is huge news for us.”
According to a recent report to the Town Council, the project leaders said every aspect of the new school effort was “on time and on budget.” This includes an overhaul of the curriculum to bring courses more in keeping with 21st century learning to the layout of the 231,000-square-foot structure and other details.
The Hilltop report said based on all of the available data, the town remained in solid shape financially and should not see its stellar “Aa1” bond rating decline.
Two recent studies reported close to $200 million of work was needed to the district’s four schools before a wall or ceiling was opened. This would make rehabbing the existing buildings more costly than building new. Window and roof work, asbestos remediation, safety improvements and other efforts upgrades were cited. Visit https://mdl.town/Report and https://mdl.town/FCI online for more.
Current figures indicate the median Middletown homeowner could expect to pay about $2 a day for their share of the project, or about the price of a cup of coffee a day.
After significant discussion, the combined middle-high school on fields just north of Gaudet Middle School emerged as the most viable option to move Middletown schools forward. Under those designs, flexibility and safety were points of emphasis along with lots of natural light, strong Middletown pride and healthy spaces.
In addition to new state-of-the-art schools, proponents have said one of the big selling points was temporary classrooms wouldn’t be needed. The way the project is planned, students would remain in the existing schools until the new building was completed, minimizing any disruptions from the construction project.
Contrary to the perceptions of some, those involved in the process said offering the best educational opportunities is what’s driving the layout of the new building — not vice versa.
Ideally, officials have said Middletown would take care of all its schools at once. However, due to funding limitations, there’s only so much the community can take on at one time.
According to the latest talk, the Oliphant Lane property now home to the school administrative offices would be repurposed for a town senior affordable housing project. As for the Aquidneck School, that Reservoir Road property has been mentioned as the potential site for a Middletown community center, a facility currently lacking in town.
Under the current proposal, Forest Avenue School would serve as the home of the district’s early childhood program, pre-kindergarten through first grade. And the existing Middletown High building would be transformed into a grade two through five learning center along with district administrative and maintenance offices on Valley Road.
For the latest information, visit https://mdl.town/NewSchool online. The volunteer School Building Committee is also providing regular updates at https://mdl.town/BuildingCommittee online.
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/9044/NYCU-55