PASS OR FAIL
Rhode Island's schools face a tidal wave of need, according to an independent statewide analysis. Classrooms are too hot or too cold. Science labs are woefully outdated. Rain seeping in through leaky roofs puddles on the floor or collects in makeshift buckets. Ceiling tiles collapse, pipes burst and mold grows on damp surfaces.
Earlier this month, students walked out of classes at Newport's Rogers High School to protest what they described as Dickensian conditions: mold, slippery floors, even mice falling from the ceiling.
Question 1 on the Nov. 6 ballot asks voters to redress decades of neglect. It calls for $250 million in general obligation bonds, the largest bond in state history, spread over five years. A second bond, also for $250 million, would go on the ballot in 2022.
Gov. Gina Raimondo has asked voters and state leaders to "embark on a once-in-a-generation investment" to bring schools into the 21st century. Even Raimondo's two opponents, Cranston's Republican mayor, Allan Fung, and independent Joseph Trillo, agree that Rhode Island needs to make a substantial investment in school facilities, although they take issue with some of the details of the bond proposal.
A study of the state's 306 public schools found they need $2.2-billion worth of renovations to bring them up to modern education standards. Providence alone needs $372.4 million worth of repairs.
State Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who has led the school bond campaign, says the longer Rhode Island waits, the more those repairs will cost. If the state continues its current level of funding for school repairs, the total cost will jump from $2.2 billion to $2.9 billion in 10 years, the study said.
Perhaps no one better understands the need for wholesale school facility renovations than school superintendents.
The $250-million bond leverages more money for districts to rebuild by allowing them to earn bonuses for projects that enhance STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), consolidate schools (called "fewer and newer"), reduce overcrowding, and make schools "safe, warm and dry."
"Cumberland has an opportunity to get $83 million worth of school facilities for $28 million" because of the additional financial incentives from the state, said Supt. Robert Mitchell. "I don't know how the district could do all of this work without them. That's really the selling point. That's what makes this complex project understandable to people."
Communities are reimbursed by the state for school construction bonds based on their tax capacity and their level of poverty. The poorest districts are reimbursed at 96 percent while the wealthiest are reimbursed for 35 percent. With these new incentives, districts in the middle range can earn an additional 20 percent reimbursement.
For projects like East Providence's proposed $189.5-million high school, the incentives mean that 74 cents of every dollar spent would be paid by the state.
"The high school is in such dire need that voters will have to pay one way or another," East Providence Supt. Kathryn Crowley said. "We're operating on a wing and a prayer."
During a 2017 tour of the high school pegged as "the good, the bad and the ugly," master plumber Paul Santos called the school's sewer gas issue "a bomb waiting to go off." The chairman of the School Committee's building committee called the high school "a catastrophe waiting to happen."
In Newport, Supt. Colleen Burns Jermain said Rogers High School is a "California school built in a New England state." The building has six wings with more than 40 doors — a security nightmare. Rogers, along with East Providence High School, has been identified as among the top candidates for school replacement.
When it rains, it pours. During April vacation, water drained from the roof and flooded one of the corridors, prompting a student to post images on social media. The heating system has long outlived its life expectancy.
Rogers "was considered an architectural wonder when it was built 59 years ago," Jermain said. "But we need a building that is more conducive to the climate we live in, one that's flexible enough to allow our students the freedom of open classrooms."
Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support Question 1, according to a recent poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for The Providence Journal, The Public's Radio (formerly Rhode Island Public Radio) and ABC6.
"The kind of buildings we need are different from a generation ago," Magaziner said. "We did this forum in West Warwick. One of the teachers said, 'All my kids have Chromebooks. But we only have one electrical outlet in my classroom.' In 2018, we need schools that are wired, that have functioning science labs, that have career and technical facilities."
Magaziner said even those people who question the need for modern schools recognize the need for safe ones.
Fung said he supports Question 1 now that the bond contains language that ensures all districts will get a piece of the funding.
"I will be voting yes," he said in a recent interview. "I think there are dramatic needs in schools across our state. There are continuing needs, and we have to go forward so each community has equal access to those funds."
In a series of emails this spring between The Journal and the Fung campaign, spokesman Andrew Augustus called the school bond "a failed idea that puts the repairs of Providence schools on the backs of taxpayers statewide ...
"Mayor Fung supports bonding to jump start school construction needs statewide," Augustus wrote. "That bond needs to address the needs of Middletown, Johnston, and Tiverton as much as they do Raimondo's allies in Providence."
In a recent interview, Trillo raised similar concerns.
"I support the idea of raising money to fix our schools," he said. "My concern is that the City of Providence takes the lion's share of the $250 million. While some of our cities and towns have done a pretty good job of maintaining our schools, the cities of Central Falls, West Warwick and others have been cutting back on maintenance. The state and the taxpayers are faced with cleaning up the mess that some cities and towns have allowed to happen."
The bond includes language that prevents any one district from gobbling up all the money, according to Magaziner spokesman Evan England. First, it caps school construction spending by the state at $100 million in any given year. Secondly, it says that the money must be distributed proportionally to all of the communities who apply for construction funds.
If, for example, five communities apply for funding in any one year, the state will ensure that each of those cities or towns gets its fair share, England said.
The woeful condition of the state's public schools is the result of generations of neglect. It was more lucrative for cities and town to kick routine repairs down the road, then apply for a large bond that guaranteed state reimbursement, according to Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees.
A four-year moratorium that began in 2011 shelved approximately $600 million in school repairs because communities couldn't afford to go out to bond without state aid.
State leaders want to make sure that Rhode Island doesn't find itself in this predicament again. The bond regulations require that communities set aside money to maintain school buildings. The maintenance plan will be phased in to allow cities and towns to adjust their budgets.
Before 2007, when the Department of Education imposed criteria, some districts built Taj Mahals while others stuck with the basics. The bond requires that districts hire a project manager to oversee school construction to make sure it's run efficiently.
SCHOOL PROJECTS ON LOCAL BALLOTS
Here are the cities and towns that have bond referenda that will be put to voters on Nov. 6:
Cumberland: $83 million for new roofs and windows, larger classrooms, enhanced science and technology facilities and improved safety measures.
East Providence: $189.5 million to build a new high school for 1,600 students. The new building would replace the existing high school and the career and technical center. The money would also be used to make repairs at the elementary and middle schools, including health and safety improvements, plumbing and electrical repairs, and accessibility enhancements.
Jamestown: $5.9 million for repairs at the Lawn and Melrose schools, including fire-safety upgrades, electrical repairs, roof replacement, and security projects.
North Kingstown: $13.5 million to make health and safety improvements to five elementary schools, two middle schools and the high school. The project includes fire-safety repairs; security, electrical, and heating and ventilation upgrades; and education program improvements.
Pawtucket: $220 million for a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) school along with renovations to Shea and Tolman high schools and health and safety upgrades throughout the district.
Providence: $160 million for repairs to be included in a five-year improvement plan to the state Department of Education.
Smithfield: $45 million for additions and renovations at three elementary schools — McCabe, LaPerche and Old County — as part of a master plan that includes closing one school. The project would also make health and safety repairs at the high school, the middle school and the Winsor Elementary School.
Warwick: $40 million to make health and safety improvements to every school in the district.
ELECTION COVERAGE SCHEDULE
This is the first in a series of stories previewing the big races in the Nov. 6 general election in Rhode Island. Here is the schedule:
Monday, Oct. 22: Question 2 ($70-million bond for URI and RIC)
Tuesday, Oct. 23: Question 3 ($47-million bond for environment, recreation and water infrastructure)
Wednesday, Oct. 24: U.S. Congressional Districts 1 and 2
Thursday, Oct. 25: U.S. Senate
Friday, Oct. 26: Attorney General
Saturday, Oct. 27: General Assembly
Sunday, Oct. 28: Governor
Monday, Oct. 29: Secretary of State
Tuesday, Oct. 30: Treasurer
Wednesday, Oct. 31: Lieutenant Governor
Thursday, Nov. 1: East Providence Mayor; Warwick Mayor
Friday, Nov. 2: Providence Mayor, Pawtucket Mayor, Johnston Mayor, Woonsocket Mayor
— lborg@providencejournal.com
(401) 277-7823
On Twitter: @lborgprojocom