The Project Team has been successful in maintaining all major program elements that were socialized during the lead up to the bond referendum. The building remains in the same location abutting School street, is predominantly a 2-story building with a smaller 3-story elevation, contains state of the art career and technical education spaces, a large theater and gym, and ample 21^st Century educational spaces. The building aesthetics also remain largely the same, as it has been a priority of the School Building Committee and Town Council to ensure that the new facility works with the existing Town aesthetic.

The Project Team has held meetings specifically to understand abutter concerns, and thoughtfully incorporate them into the site logistics. As construction progresses, and new issues are brought forward, the Team will pivot as possible to ensure we are being a good neighbor.

We are fortunate to have a large site and a building location that has significant setbacks from residential properties, which will have a great impact as to the level of noise heard by residents. In general, our work is not expected to be significantly noisy, but there will be some phases of work that will be louder than other. Site work, including grading the site, will require excavators and trucks to move dirt around the site, and the demolition of the existing school will require an excavator to pull the building down and trucks to remove the material from the site. In other phases, especially once the building envelope is completed, we only expect minor, periodic noise.

Construction workers will park on-site and are forbidden from parking in residential neighborhoods.

We encourage you to contact the Owner’s Project Manager at kturner@leftfieldpm.com. Additional communications avenues will be posted to the website once finalized.

Our goal is to have all students in the building for the start of the 27/28 school year.

It will not. Curtis Corner has a much shorter duration to complete, and design is still ongoing.

No, the project (including the Curtis corner) has a $150M budget.

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.

As of May 2025, the Town has been finalizing the last of the required information in preparation for sending to the appropriate authorities having jurisdiction. The Town does not believe there will be any impediments to securing the land swap.

Fall of 2025.

All members of the Project Team have significant experience with building new school facilities in close proximity to existing schools in operation and have incorporated ‘lessons learned’ from these projects into our Logistics Plan. The Logistics Plan (available in the document library) has been developed with the School Department and SBC leadership to ensue student safety and mitigate any traffic concerns. Clear separation will be always maintained from students, and weekly site-walks with High School staff will take place to quickly adjust to any new concerns.

Approximately two years.

Winter of 2027.

Yes, the Project Team will implement dust mitigation measures including the use of water cannons and water trucks to keep dust from exiting the site.

No blasting is expected.

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.

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. 

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.