Central Falls committee backs support for up to $15 million bond to close school construction gap; construction progress reported

The Central Falls School Building Committee voted to support an act authorizing the City of Central Falls to issue up to $15,000,000 in bonds to finance construction and improvements to city school facilities and to close a financing gap in the district's large school-construction program.

The vote came during a regular committee meeting where staff also updated members on construction progress at the new high school, recent change orders, anticipated funding sources and the schedule for track-and-field work.

Committee members said the additional local borrowing would allow the district to build a pre-K–8 school on the site of the old high school rather than a pre-K–5 configuration, preserving continuity for students in the district’s dual-language program. Matt (staff member) said the city had already approved the larger bond package and that committee and board endorsements would be presented to the General Assembly as the final step of approval.

District and consultant presenters described visible construction progress inside the new high school and circulated design renderings of interior color schemes and casework. Erica (Peregrine team), who led the design update, said the final interior palette uses blue, red and gray tones throughout classrooms, corridors and the auditorium, with display casework and monitors planned for key circulation points. Eric (Peregrine team) and other presenters said work is progressing on glazing, ductwork, sheetrock, insulation, plumbing and fire protection systems.

Project staff reported approximately 130 construction workers on site and said stairwells and exterior curtain-wall glazing are installed in several locations. The district has begun recurrent turnover coordination meetings and walkthroughs with school leadership, the fire department and IT staff to prepare for operations and technology installation. Staff said an IT request for proposals is expected to be issued this month.

On budget matters, staff reported one hard-cost change order for February totaling $90,000 that was charged to the construction contingency, and a $9,000 soft-cost change order charged to owner soft costs. The committee was shown a construction-contingency balance that staff characterized as intentionally maintaining about 11% remaining while an outstanding change order for auditorium equipment — estimated at about $1.3 million and originally included as an alternate in the base bid — is finalized.

Presenters said the district has been awarded an additional $3,000,000 in what the transcript identifies as “FEI” funding; staff stated on the record that that $3,000,000 is expected to be reimbursed at 100% and that roughly $1.3 million of it would be applied to auditorium equipment, with the remainder available for track-and-field work and related scope. Staff said they would not reallocate contingency dollars until the change order and reimbursement flow are finalized and that adjustments will appear in the committee’s next monthly update.

The committee also received a status report on the track-and-field replacement project. The design team has split that work into three packages: (1) a standalone concession building (targeting 100% construction documents this month), (2) the track and field surface and related sitework (60% documents targeted in mid-March and 90% in April, subject to stormwater review), and (3) a retaining wall package (60% documents targeted in April, schedule dependent on proposals from design consultants Par and Vertex).

A committee member asked whether the turf specification could avoid materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Staff said they would work with the design team to address that request as documents advance.

Other business included an update that MBE/WBE participation was unchanged from the prior meeting and that the apprenticeship participation rate improved from near 10% to about 16%, exceeding the committee’s 15% target. Staff also reported two invoices for design work and a pending reimbursement request tied to bond requisition number 19.

Votes at a glance

- Approve minutes of the Feb. 12 meeting — motion proposed and approved (vote tally not recorded in the transcript).

- Support an act authorizing the City of Central Falls to finance school construction by issuance of not more than $15,000,000 in bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness — motion moved by Rory (member) and seconded by Sarah (member); outcome: approved (voice vote: "Aye" recorded).

- Approve bundled bills: bond requisition number 19 and revolving fund submission number 5 — motion to bundle and approve made by Rory (member); outcome: approved (voice vote: "Aye" recorded).

Committee chair and staff said they will present a similar motion to the board of trustees at the board’s March meeting and will include final budget adjustments in next month’s SBC update. The meeting adjourned at 10:28.