Portsmouth awards $229,000 design contract and backs Stage 1 school construction submission to state

The Portsmouth School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to finalize a contract with Studio Jade for educational facility planning and architectural and engineering services and to support submitting a Stage 1 “necessity of school construction” application to the state.

The committee approved a final contract with Studio Jade “in the amount of $229,000,” a fee the district said covers Stage 1 work through a Stage 2 submission in February 2026. Superintendent Dr. Viveres and consultant Phil Conte said the Stage 1 packet will be filed with the state education agency on Sept. 15.

The Stage 1 application is the entry point for state reimbursement eligibility, consultant Phil Conte explained to the committee. “Stage 1 is the entry point for establishing eligibility for state reimbursement,” Conte said, and he described the district’s remaining tasks: compiling a facilities and programmatic needs analysis, demographics, and documentation of the project funding plan.

Conte outlined a timeline: the school building committee recommended the submission Aug. 20; the superintendent and district staff will present the plan to the town council Sept. 8; and the district plans to submit the Stage 1 file via the state’s portal on Sept. 15. Conte told the committee the design team will follow with public engagement and more detailed work through October–November ahead of a February 2026 Stage 2 submission.

Committee members and consultants emphasized the need to align project scope with the town’s funding lane. “Are we in a $10,000,000 lane? Are we in a $30,000,000 lane?” Conte asked, saying the district must settle on a funding range so the Stage 2 prioritization and project lists are realistic.

Separately, the committee approved the negotiated Studio Jade fee for Stage 1 and Stage 2 work, saying a later renegotiation will be needed once the five‑year capital plan’s scope is known. The committee voted 5–0 on both the contract award and the committee motion expressing support for the Stage 1 submission.

The district plans community outreach around the Stage 2 process, including display boards at back‑to‑school events and a survey for families, followed by more in‑depth engagement after the Stage 1 filing. Conte said the engagement will reuse methods used in the district’s last Stage 2 process and that the team will present high‑level strategies to the school building committee in October.

The committee’s action means Portsmouth will enter the state review process this fall. The consultants and district staff repeatedly described the state process as prescriptive and said missing the Sept. 15 submission would push the district to the spring cycle, delaying the timeline.

Votes at the meeting were unanimous on the Studio Jade contract and on supporting the Stage 1 filing. Committee members did not attach conditions to the approvals; they said additional approvals and negotiations will be sought for later contract phases and for Stage 2 work.

The committee also discussed the district’s facility condition assessment and noted the district had solicited a demographer to provide enrollment forecasts for the next five to ten years to support project planning.

Ending note: consultants said Stage 2 will produce a memorandum of agreement with the state that formally establishes reimbursement levels for specific projects; the district’s current base reimbursement level was discussed as roughly 35 percent, and consultants warned the district must include realistic projects that the town can commit to completing.