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New Central Falls high school: interior finishes advance, budget adjustments noted
Summary
Design and construction teams reported substantial interior progress at the new Central Falls High School, identified a current MBE/WBE participation rate below state minimums, and described a $2.83 million move-management contract and other budget updates.
Design and construction teams told the Central Falls School Building Committee that construction of the new high school is moving into interior finishes while the district addresses budget adjustments and subcontractor reporting.
The project team said the building is ‘completely vertical’ with active interior work across the academic wing and finishing in corridors and the media center. Crews are installing flooring on upper floors, glazing is in place, elevator and stage framing are under way, and punch-list activity continues at the on-site basketball courts.
Financial updates included a reallocation of a move-management contract through AI3 valued at $2,828,600 that was moved from the owner soft-cost bucket into the AI3 contract. Staff also listed a project-owner construction contingency balance described in the update as “1,300,000.0,” which the presenter described as ‘roughly 60%’ in the contingency log. The team said additional allowances were added for environmental testing at the Higginson and Lonsdale site given known site complexity.
Committee members pressed the design team about minority- and women-owned business enterprise (MBE/WBE) participation. The team reported an MBE/WBE figure near 13.7%, below the state statutory minimum of 15% referenced in the packet. The design team said contractors have not consistently provided completed change-order reporting for subs, and staff are working with contractors to reconcile the numbers and provide a comprehensive update at the next meeting.
The committee also heard that technology spend is budgeted at roughly $2.2 million and that staff have submitted bond reimbursement and revolving-fund reimbursement requests (bond invoice reimbursement requested: $4,134,086.97; revolving fund: $155,663.99).
Project leaders said there are pending change orders that remain unsigned and will be reflected in future contingency reports. They also reiterated that the bottom-line project budget has not changed in the update presented.
The committee requested clearer subcontractor change-order reporting and a follow-up MBE/WBE reconciliation; staff said they will present updated contingency and participation numbers at the next meeting.
