Newport Council Agrees to Commit $3 Million More to Rogers High School After Heated Debate

The Newport City Council voted to commit up to $3 million in additional city funding to the Rogers High School construction project on June 26, approving an amended version of a resolution that initially proposed a $4 million commitment.

The adopted resolution directs city staff to provide financial support contingent on the School Committee spending down certain reserves and on contractually permissible draws from contractor contingencies. Sponsors said an immediate commitment is needed to secure a temporary certificate of occupancy and unlock state reimbursement that covers a portion of construction costs.

Why it matters: School officials told the council the project faces a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall. The school building committee first requested $2.2 million to carry work through an imminent deadline and said the project could need additional sums later in the year; the committee’s letter cited a scaled high‑end gap in the $8.6M–$8.8M range if no other offsets are found.

School Building Committee co‑chair Boatwright, who addressed the council during public testimony, said the committee had asked for $2.2 million for the July deadline and welcomed the council’s larger pledge while warning it would not fully close the project’s high‑end estimate. “We had asked for $2,200,000, and so it's higher than that, so thank you,” Boatwright said.

Parents, teachers and students pressed the council to act. Bowie Von Doom, a Rogers High senior, described deteriorating classroom conditions and said students deserved a safe school. “The past few years our student body has been attending a school filled with asbestos and water damage every single day,” Bowie said. Parent Amy Machado said she wanted councilors to prioritize students over politics.

Council debate focused on two questions: how much the city could safely commit without harming its bond rating, and whether the council could or should make funding conditional on how the School Committee deploys its reserves. The city solicitor advised the measure reads as a council commitment contingent on certain conditions rather than a direct order to the School Committee.

Councilors ultimately adopted an amendment to reduce the initial $4 million figure to $3 million before approving the amended resolution. Council supporters argued the $3 million pledge, combined with identified school reserves and contractor contingencies, created a plausible funding path to close the project’s gap without repeated emergency requests.

What’s next: The School Building Committee and the School Committee are scheduled to take related votes in coming days; the resolution’s conditions require the schools’ reserves to be drawn down to a specified contingency threshold before the city releases funds. Council members and school leaders said they will continue to pursue grants and value‑engineering to reduce the total funding need.

The vote on the amended resolution was carried by the City Council.