School committee used capital funds to pay for geothermal testing; town counsel says costs are reimbursable from school bond

Council members questioned a school‑committee decision to allocate $350,000 of school capital funds toward accelerated planning and geothermal test wells for the new South Kingstown High School site. Several council members said they were surprised the school department moved ahead on testing before explicit council approval for additional project scope.

Bond counsel and school staff explained the background: when the bond referendum was pending the school department set aside $350,000 in capital funds to keep design and schedule momentum. Only a portion of that allocation — roughly $100,000–$125,000 — is for test drilling to determine whether ground‑source heat pumps are feasible at the Columbia Road school site. Counsel advised the council that architectural and planning fees and owner’s project management costs are eligible for reimbursement from the approved $150 million bond, so the expenditures could be repaid to the town once the school bond reimbursements are processed.

School committee representatives said the outlay was viewed as prudent risk management: determining the feasibility of geothermal early in the design reduces the risk of later surprises that could add cost or force design changes. Several council members reiterated the need for transparency and for all significant scope and budget decisions to be routed through joint town/school oversight before non‑bond funds are committed.

School and bond counsel said the next public steps include abutters’ meetings and school‑building committee hearings with public comment; any decision to add large‑scale geothermal infrastructure to the final bond scope would come back to the town council for formal approval.