Committee Holds First School Improvement Session

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

September 24th 2025

RICHMOND – Much of Tuesday’s meeting of the Chariho School Committee, in the middle school auditorium, was devoted to the presentation of options for the redesigns of the district’s three elementary schools. Committee members and residents were invited to comment on and ask questions about the three options presented by architect Mark Rhoades of the firm SLAM.

The Rhode Island Department of Education requires every school district to develop a capital improvement plan and offsets the cost of building improvements with state aid. The committee voted in August to hire SLAM and project manager, Colliers International.

The three elementary school buildings, Richmond, Charlestown and Ashaway, are 90, 54 and 76 years old respectively. In 2024, voters narrowly rejected a bond to build three new elementary schools.

Richmond committee member Jessica Purcell said it would be important to choose an option and act without delay.

“At this stage in the process to approve a Capital Improvement Plan for the elementary schools, we've learned a lot, but the biggest lesson is that time is money,” she said.  “We've had multiple reasons for delay over the years but the narrow failure of the $150M bond for new schools and main campus repairs has set us back in significant ways that include the expiration of additional bonus reimbursement aid, the loss of opportunity to use HV [the now-closed Hope Valley School] as a swing space, the cost to repeat the Stage I and Stage II process, and the cost escalation for construction and materials. We're at a critical moment, and I'm pleased that we have the opportunity to present three options to the community for comparison in this round, which we didn't have time for in 2024.”

Superintendent of Schools Gina Picard said the work now underway, Stage II of the plan, is the most detailed and could lead to some confusion.

“The state does not allow you to do projects that are not approved to receive reimbursement, and the last time that we did this, there was a lot of confusion about what people thought the Chariho Act could and couldn’t do, and I just want to be clear,” she said. “The laws have changed so I ask that before we provide information to taxpayers that we speak factual, and if you’re not sure, I’m happy to always assist.”

This time, the state would reimburse 61% of the cost of the project, with an additional 4% regional bonus. The reimbursement is based on the number of students, which is, currently, 1,281 children from Pre-K to 4th Grade.

The Options

Architect Mark Rhoades described the three options for the elementary schools: a single “unified” elementary school, major renovations to each of the three schools, and three entirely new schools.

The Unified School

Rhoades said the unified school would require between 27 and 33 acres of land, which the district would purchase in one of the three towns.

“If this option, through community discussions and working with the School Committee, is accepted, we’ll look for site options,” he said. “RIDE will require us to have a letter of intent to submit. We can’t just say it’s going to a site to be named later. They really need to see the proof.”

Preserving the qualities that make each of the three schools special would be central to the design of a unified school.

“It’s kind of interesting when you look at the school, when you bring three schools together, three existing schools having unique identities, whether that’s STEM-based, environmentally-based, we want to maintain that sort of character,” Rhoades said. “When you think of the unified school, it’s not about being big, it’s about coming together as a broader community.”

Renovating Existing Schools

Renovating three very old buildings and bringing them to RIDE standards would present what Rhoades described as a “very unique and difficult challenge.”

The sites of all three schools are narrow and deep, and sufficient space would have to be allocated to septic leach fields.

Classrooms and gyms do not currently meet RIDE’s larger dimensional requirements and the renovations would call for extensive security upgrades, including ballistic (bulletproof) glazing.

Richmond school, Rhoades said, was the most challenging of the three schools.

“Richmond was especially challenging,” he said. “One of the unique things about Richmond, it’s a beautiful piece of architecture, but it’s a split- level scheme. You enter not at any floor, you enter into a stair. You go up or you go down, and that just creates an accessibility nightmare to deal with.”

The proposed plan for Richmond school is to keep the historic front façade and clear out the back.

“The historic building is the crosshatch in the front, there’s a little courtyard space, an internal courtyard that can be used for movement space, active play, contemplation space, or it could be for garden space,” Rhoades explained.

Classrooms would be located in wings at the rear of the building, with common spaces in a “middle zone.”

“Each of the renovations or additions do have some level of compromise that a new facility wouldn’t,” Rhoades said. “It doesn’t mean they are subpar, but there are compromises.”

Three New Schools

The most costly option, the construction of three new elementary schools, would also entail purchasing land and possibly, remediating polluted land.

The Cost

A single, large “unified” school would be the least costly of the three options, coming in at between $87 and $90 million.

Renovating the three schools is expected to cost $89 to $98 million.

Three new schools would be the most expensive, costing at least $104 million.

It should be noted that the above figures are for construction costs only and would not include components such as heating.

“That’s a construction cost,” Rhoades said. “That’s today’s dollars, what it would be to have somebody to install the bricks and mortar, the mechanical system, just to get the building operational. There are other costs that go with that.”

Is There a Favored Option?

At this stage, neither the school committee nor the architect has expressed a clear preference, although Rhoades did hint that it might be more expedient to start fresh with a single, new school.

Committee member Craig Louzon, of Charlestown, said he hoped committee members could agree on one of the options and present a more united front this time around. Residents will vote in November.

“Hey folks, we’re crossing the Rubicon now,” he said. “So going forward, I hope we don’t resort to what we did in the past. I know I’m leaning towards one, but if I’m the only one leaning towards, I will gladly join the rest of you to promote whatever we decide as a group. But we all have to promote it.”

Purcell agreed.

“Myself and other colleagues on the School Committee have stressed the importance of a unified board on voting for a path forward that fits the needs of our community and students,” she stated. “Although there can be tension at times, the regional aspect of our school district is our greatest asset, and I'm hopeful we can work together to pursue this important progress.”

The School Committee will vote on which option will be submitted at the Oct. 21 meeting.

In the meantime, residents are encouraged to attend information sessions where they can ask questions and give feedback on the proposed options.

The first session will be on Monday, Sept. 29 at Richmond School. The second session will be on Oct. 1 at Charlestown School, and the third will take place on Oct. 6 at Ashaway School.

All three sessions will begin at 5:30 p.m.