FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Each homeowner will experience a different increase based on the value of their home.

The average assessed value for a house in South Kingstown is $468,300.

The real estate tax on a house valued at $468,300 the real estate taxes would increase by a total of $318 by FY2030, when the bond payments are fully funded.

Example: If your current 2024 real estate tax is $5,175, this means that in 2030 your tax bill will be $5,493 to fund the school bond. The $318 dollar payment will continue yearly over the life of the bond.

Please note: these numbers are calculated for the School Bond only and do not include additional increases for funding of Town services or growth not related to the High School Replacement project. For more information visit our “By The Numbers” web page.’

Tax Data Provided by the Town of South Kingstown

The Town of South Kingstown is seeking approval from residents to borrow up to $150,000,000 for the replacement of the South Kingstown High School and the construction of a new Athletic Complex at the Curtis Corner Middle School location.

If the new high school bond fails, the Town Council would need to provide new direction on how to proceed with school improvements.  The $48+ Million repairs identified in the high school facility assessment will still need to be addressed in some manner. However, because this work would not qualify for any bonuses, the Rhode Island Department of Education would only pay 35% of the eligible costs, with the other 65% of the burden being placed back on the municipality. Again, it is important to note that the $48M is just to keep the school in safe operation, it does not include any costs for educational program enhancements.

State law now allows South Kingstown students to attend out-of-district public schools at the cost of South Kingstown tax payers. 

South Kingstown currently spends over 4.9 Million dollars on tuition for its students to attend other public schools or charter schools in the state – more than the City of Pawtucket spends to send students to other districts. This is close to $5 Million of South Kingstown taxpayer money that is going to other districts to educate our students. It is our hope and belief that a new high school and athletic complex will help retain our students from attending out-of-district schools with better facilities, and even attract students from other RI towns to attend school here, in South Kingstown.

No.  RIDE has indicated that it would not financially support a full-scale renovation of the existing high school due to fact that the cost to renovate will likely meet or exceed the cost of a new build project.

It will not be cheaper to push this work to a later date. Here are the two main reasons why.

• Incentives being offered by the Rhode Island Department of Education are set to sunset this summer. These incentives increase the Town’s reimbursement rate from 35% to over 50%. Once these incentives expire, the Town will revert to its base reimbursement rate of 35%.

• Industry experts agree that construction costs will never revert to their pre-pandemic levels. Although there is evidence of the construction market stabilizing, the consensus is that the current pricing we are seeing is here to stay, and will in fact continue to increase in the years to come.

The SBC is committed to a transparent planning and implementation process and welcomes community participation at all of our meetings. If possible, we encourage interested parties to attend our meetings in person, however there are virtual options and archived recordings/minutes for those that cannot. Please visit the Events tab of this website for a list of upcoming meetings and associated Agendas.

Additional Contact Options:

• Questions, comments, and other inquiries can be sent to the committee via e-mail at skschoolproject@gmail.com
• Written communications can be addressed to: South Kingstown Town Hall, 2nd Floor, Attn: School Building Committee, 180 High Street, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879.
• Sign up for project updates.

PLEASE NOTE: All e-mail, written, and other public is placed on the agenda at normal SBC meetings to ensure the committee is aware of community concerns and can discuss relevant topics. All communication will be formally accepted and placed on file.  Should the SBC decide to further direct staff, the project’s OPM, or the project’s consultant relative to the correspondence, they may do so at the meeting.

Please sign up for email updates through this link!

Or feel free to email us at SKschoolproject@gmail.com

In addition, all SBC meetings are open to the public to ensure transparency during this process – meeting dates and times are available on this website, and on the RI Secretary of State’s website.

That’s great – we absolutely value your input!

To make sure we put you in contact with the right person, we encourage you to email us at skschoolproject@gmail.com. Once received, the project team will reach out to schedule a discussion.

There are also a number of public engagement sessions planned if the project is approved by SK’s voters. These open, public meetings are a great place to discuss everything related to the project. The best way to find out about these meetings is to sign up for updates!

To register a formal communication, one that may be addressed at a School Building Committee meeting, please email SBC@southkingstownri.com

The Town of South Kingstown is seeking approval from residents to borrow up to $150,000,000 for the replacement of the South Kingstown High School and the construction of a new Athletic Complex at the Curtis Corner Middle School location.

We need to do something to provide an improved learning environment for our high school students.  The current building is 70 years old, in disrepair, inefficient, and inadequate to meet the educational needs of students. 

The School Building Committee evaluated multiple options for the limited repair and renovation of the existing high school facility as well as multiple new build options.  Ultimately the SBC determined that the best value for the community would be a new build option on the existing Columbia Street site.  Addition details about the evaluation process can be found in these FAQs and in the RIDE Stage II Submission Document.

88If the SK community votes to approve funding through the public referendum in the Spring of 2024, all construction will be required to be complete within 5 years of the signed Memorandum of Agreement with the Rhode Island Department of Education (expected December of 2023). Although extensions are granted on a case-by-case basis, it is the intent of this program to have our highest priority projects complete by that December 2028 deadline.

For the High School & Athletic Complex, design is forecast to take between 12-18 months, and construction between 24-30 months. Final project schedules are dependent on design and associated market conditions (material lead times, labor), but our new High School could be up and running for the start of the 2027/2028 school year.

Please visit the Schedule tab at the top of the website for more information.

Once the new school building is complete, students will move into the new facility and the existing facility will be demolished to make way for recreational fields, outdoor spaces, and for site work including parking and drop off areas.

The vacant CCMS building will be demolished as part of the project to make room for a new stadium that will include a full-size football/soccer/ lacrosse field, competition track, field events, seating, and press box.  The new recreation area will also include a new parking area and various other recreation amenities such as tennis courts, pickle ball courts, etc.

If the new high school bond fails, the Town Council would need to provide new direction on how to proceed with school improvements.  The $48+ Million repairs identified in the high school facility assessment will still need to be addressed in some manner. However, because this work would not qualify for any bonuses, the Rhode Island Department of Education would only pay 35% of the eligible costs, with the other 65% of the burden being placed back on the municipality. Again, it is important to note that the $48M is just to keep the school in safe operation, it does not include any costs for educational program enhancements.

All new school facilities are required to be design and built to the standards outlined in the Northeast Collaborative for High Performing Schools (NE-CHPS). These standards were developed to promote energy efficiency operational performance and sustainable design, amongst other design elements. Additional criteria set forth in NE-CHPS concerns the reduction of waste, reduction of pollution, absence of environmental degradation, air quality improvement, and  the use of natural or environmentally sustainable materials.

The South Kingstown School Building Committee (SBC) is a locally appointed authority made up of members of the South Kingstown community, including Town leadership, stakeholders from the SK School Department, and community representatives with a professional background in architecture, engineering, and/or construction. The SBC is required to meet both the Town Charter and membership requirements of the Rhode Island Department of Education in order to qualify for state reimbursements.

The current SBC is made up of the following individuals.

* This project may include more than one “subject school.”  The appointed principal will work to receive input from other principals on other project sites.

Operational costs for the new high school are expected to be substantially less compared to the current high school, due to the reduced size of the new facility, long-term warranties on new building construction, reduced energy costs from energy efficient building systems, and an overall reduction in general cost to maintain a new facility versus the current facility that is 70 years old. 

A majority of Rhode Island municipalities are experiencing declining student enrollment due to a variety of factors to include changes in family size, aging population, housing availability, and general migration shifts.  However, despite the decline in recent years, there is still a need to provide high quality facilities to the many families and students that continue to reside in South Kingstown.  The current aging facility is almost 100,000 square feet larger than is currently needed resulting in much higher ongoing operational costs.  A new state-of-the-art facility with a smaller footprint and increased energy efficiency will provide a much better learning experience for less long-term operational cost.

State law now allows South Kingstown students to attend out-of-district public schools at the cost of South Kingstown tax payers. 

South Kingstown currently spends over 4.9 Million dollars on tuition for its students to attend other public schools or charter schools in the state – more than the City of Pawtucket spends to send students to other districts. This is close to $5 Million of South Kingstown taxpayer money that is going to other districts to educate our students. It is our hope and belief that a new high school and athletic complex will help retain our students from attending out-of-district schools with better facilities, and even attract students from other RI towns to attend school here, in South Kingstown (see following question for additional information).

Although RIDE does not keep official data, there is evidence to support that building a new facility will attract new students and their families.

A report released in December 2023 by Perkins Eastman, Drexel University School of Education, and other stakeholders states that “Evidence also indicates that school modernization has a significant positive impact on key educational indicators, including test scores, graduation rates, and enrollment over time.” (Source: https://perkinseastman.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/12/Latrobe_BillionDollarChallenge_SynopsisReport.pdf)

The new East Providence High School had an enrollment of 1659 students for the 2022-2023 school year. In 2020, before the new school was completed, East Providence High School had an enrollment of 1,526. This means that 133 more students attended the new school versus the old school (Source: National Center for Education Statistics; Rhode Island Department of Education)

The School Building Committee worked closely with a professional architectural team for over a year to evaluate various renovation and new build options.  Due to the expansive size, configuration, and age of the existing building, it was ultimately determined that is was more cost effective to build a new facility with a smaller footprint rather than selectively demolish and renovate portions of the existing facility.  In addition, a new building will maximize the available reimbursement from the Rhode Island Department of Education.  More information on this topic can be found in the RIDE Stage II Submission Document.

A repair is something that the School Building Committee explored as part of the year-long planning process.  In 2022 a Facilities Conditions Assessment was conducted that identified at least $48+ Million worth of necessary repairs that would need to take place over 10 years just to keep the schools ‘warm, safe, and dry’ – roof replacements, masonry repairs, electrical upgrades, and other items to bring the building up to code. In other words, this cost would be to maintain the high schools’ safe operation. Again, it is important to note that the $48M is just to keep the school in safe operation, it does not include any costs for educational program enhancements.

After examining the large cost just to maintain the current condition with no improvement to educational adequacy, energy efficiency, and other factors, the School Building Committee chose to evaluate full renovation vs. new build alternatives.  Ultimately the new build alternative was selected.

Unfortunately, no.  Renovating typically incurs cost premiums associated with hazardous material remediation (i.e. asbestos, PCB’s, etc.), selective demolition, reconfiguration, matching old with new sections, and many other hidden items that often result in costly change orders.  In addition, the current facility is 234,900 SF, which is much too large for the current student population.  Attempting to reconfigure the existing building into a smaller, more appropriate footprint would be difficult given the current configuration of common spaces (cafeteria, auditorium, etc.).  More information on this topic can be found in the RIDE Stage II Submission Document.

Yes. The new construction cost (hard cost) for Central Falls High School came in at approx. $715 s/f, whereas the renovation of the East Providence Middle School is projected to cost a minimum of $650 s/f. Using those numbers, the cost comparison in South Kingstown would be:

South Kingstown HS – New Build v/s Renovation with existing and forecasted square footage.

(Construction cost only – soft costs and RIDE reimbursement not included)

No.  RIDE has indicated that it would not financially support a full-scale renovation of the existing high school due to fact that the cost to renovate will likely meet or exceed the cost of a new build project.

First, all students can remain in the existing school building throughout the duration of the construction period rather than being temporarily housed in trailers or split between old school facilities in other parts of Town during a renovation option.  Other advantages include:

• A smaller building footprint which will result in less operating costs to heat, cool and maintain the facility in the long term.
• A facility designed to meet 21^st century learning standards versus trying to adapt old spaces into new configurations that may or may not be optimal.
• Expanded ability to integrate green/sustainable building technologies such as geothermal heating/ cooling, high efficiently building materials, and solar.
• The ability to reconfigure the site to address current challenges related to parking, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, and entry configurations.

More information on this topic can be found in the RIDE Stage II Submission Document.

The location of the Proposed South Kingstown Highschool was selected by the School Building Commitee
after reviewing nearly a dozen design alternatives with consideration given to various logistical issues
including the likely impact of school construction on students and educational programming.
Consideration was also given to the conservation restriction that exists for Hazard Field. The restriction is
the result of the Town’s acceptance of an improvement grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF) in 1979.

As part of the due diligence process for the school building project Town officials contacted the Rhode
Island Department or Environmental Management (RIDEM) to inquire about the process and probability
of releasing the current conservation restriction on Hazard Field to accommodate a new school facility.
RIDEM forwarded the Town’s inquiry to the National Park Service (NPS), which is the federal agency that
oversees the LWCF program. Based on feedback received from RIDEM and the NPS we feel confident that
the existing restriction on Hazard Field can be removed through a land conversion process pursuant to 36
CFR 59.3(b)(4) and that the land where the current school facility stands would be eligible to be used as
conversion replacement lands. It is important to note South Kingstown is not alone in addressing
challenges related to LWCF program restrictions. Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Hopkinton are in
the process undertaking similar conversions of LWCF restricted land to accommodate new school
construction projects. The conversion process is often used when there is a need to utilize land restricted
through the LWCF program for alternate purposes. Town officials have been communicating with RIDEM
regarding the proposed conversion of Hazard Field and will submit a formal application for conversion if a
school bond is passed in May. RIDEM has been supportive of the Town’s efforts to date and we expect
that they will help us work through the conversion process.

We have had discussions with RIDEM about potential impacts to the project and/or Town in the unlikely
event that the Towns application to convert Hazard Field is denied. When the NPS determines a state has
violated or failed to comply with applicable federal law or regulations governing the LWCF program the
NPS may withhold payment of federal funds to the state on account of such project, withhold funds for
other projects of the state, withhold approval of further projects of the state, and take such other action
deemed appropriate under the circumstances until compliance or remedial action has been accomplished
by the state to the satisfaction of the NPS. It is our understanding that if the application to convert is not
approved the school project could continue to proceed as planned. However, RIDEM may atempt to force
compliance with LWCF regulations by restricting the Town’s ability to receive funding through grant
programs administered by their department or the NPS. The probable outcome would be a compromise
measure to correct the non-conformance as RIDEM and NPS have done in other communities throughout
the state. This would likely involve the conversion of an alternative parcel of land of similar size and value
to Hazard Field to ensure the outcome fulfills the primary of LWCS program of open space preservation.

It will not be cheaper to push this work to a later date. Here are the two main reasons why.

• Incentives being offered by the Rhode Island Department of Education are set to sunset this summer. These incentives increase the Town’s reimbursement rate from 35% to over 50%. Once these incentives expire, the Town will revert to its base reimbursement rate of 35%.

• Industry experts agree that construction costs will never revert to their pre-pandemic levels. Although there is evidence of the construction market stabilizing, the consensus is that the current pricing we are seeing is here to stay, and will in fact continue to increase in the years to come.

The project budget has included specific line items to protect against further inflation and/or price escalation. These ‘contingencies’ ensure that the complete scope of work can be completed within the total budget.

With that said, the SBC and its partners will continue to perform value management at every stage of the Stage III design process, looking for effencies and cost-saving opportunities to maximize value and finish under budget.

We expect the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) will pay 50% to 55% of eligible costs for this project, including interest payments.  The remaining amount will be funded through local property tax revenue, grants or other identified sources.  For more information visit our “By The Numbers” web page.

Yes.  In addition to the 50% to 55% of eligible costs we expect RIDE will reimburse the School Building Committee and Town Council are working to identify grants and other non-tax sources of revenue to offset project costs to reduce the impact on property owners.

There are also many grants and other incentives available through the Federal Department of Energy, RI Energy, Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, and other agencies that may help reduce the cost to local property owners.  In addition, there are numerous grant opportunities available through the Federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan) and the Federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Each homeowner will experience a different increase based on the value of their home.

The average assessed value for a house in South Kingstown is $468,300.

The real estate tax on a house valued at $468,300 the real estate taxes would increase by a total of $318 by FY2030, when the bond payments are fully funded.

Example: If your current 2024 real estate tax is $5,175, this means that in 2030 your tax bill will be $5,493 to fund the school bond. The $318 dollar payment will continue yearly over the life of the bond.

Please note: these numbers are calculated for the School Bond only and do not include additional increases for funding of Town services or growth not related to the High School Replacement project. For more information visit our “By The Numbers” web page.’

Tax Data Provided by the Town of South Kingstown

South Kingstown is executing the performance of this work in partnership with RIDE-SBA.  RIDE-SBA is a quasi-independent government agency that funds capital improvement projects in the State of Rhode Island’s public schools.RIDE-SBA’s mission is to “ensure that all approved projects provide high quality learning environments, conserve natural resources, consume less energy, are easier to maintain, and provide educationally appropriate school facilities.” In order for any project to recieve aid (reimbursement) from the State, RIDE-SBA must be included in all phases of the work, from design to close-out.

The Necessity of School Construction process is a multi-stage application that requires school districts to conduct thorough facility assessments toward the creation of an efficient and prudent masterplan.  Once reviewed and vetted, the School Building Authority will recommend projects for approval by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education. Approved projects are eligible for State aid through one of three mechanisms: Housing Aid reimbursement, School Construction Bond pay-as-you-go funding, or SBA Capital Fund progress payments.

There are five stages to the necessity construction process:

Stage I -This stage is intended for the District to perform extensive research to identify school facility needs to include ranking those needs and identifying the relative costs to address them.

Stage II – Includes developing a plan for addressing the needs identified in the Stage I report.  This can be done in a number of ways so RIDE advises that the School Building Committee work with the community, interested parties and a design consultant to formulate alternatives.  The Stage II report is a comprehensive document submitted to the RIDE School Building Authority (SBA).

If/ When funding is secured through a Bond referendum the next stages would commence:

Stage III – This stage includes the advanced design and development of approved projects.  For South Kingstown this would include working with the Architectural/ Engineering firm, Owners Project manager, and Construction Manager to develop final construction plans for a New High School/Athletic Complex and have them reviewed and approved by the RIDE SBA team.

Stage IV – After construction is complete the Town will work with the RIDE SBA and RI Health and Building Educational Building Corporation (RIHBEC) to get final approvals for reimbursements through housing aid and associated bonuses.  This is when the state would start issuing payments to cover part of the bond based on the approvals outlined after the Stage II process.

Stage V – Beginning in FY 2019, Local Education Agencies (i.e. School Districts) annual facility maintenance expenditures must meet one of the following three requirements: a percentage of operating budget, a percentage of replacement value, or a minimum of $3 per square foot of building space, adjusted for inflation.  Moving forward the Town will work to properly maintain capital investments in accordance with State requirements.