Don’t Pass On This Opportunity
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ed Brady, Co-Chair of the Middletown School Building Committee. This Committee was formed in February of 2021. 95+ meetings, reams of research, consultations with licensed and highly regarded architects and engineers, and, the careful step-by-step analysis of different scenarios brought us to the plan now offered to Middletowners in Question #1. You can review all this work at mpsri.net/Building Committee.
A yes vote on Question #1, will fund the building of a new purpose-built high school and the building of a new purpose-built middle school with a shared core of: commercial kitchen, divided gymnasium and cafeteria, auditorium (which will include music education spaces), and media center/library. It will be a common campus with distinct entrances and circulation patterns. For maximal efficiency the core provides the single source for mechanical and electrical services. So, two schools will share facilities services and infrastructure. The cost savings of avoiding duplication are substantial.
Let’s consider that we as taxpayers in the State of Rhode Island have and will continue to pay into the State’s School Building Authority fund. In 2022, the Authority approved 250,000,000 for schools state-wide. Middletown received 66,000!
Conversations with RIDE have made three things clear. The Rhode Island Department of Education will not participate in any plan that: (1) applies band-aids and work-arounds to old outdated buildings, or (2) endangers children and disrupts the educational process, or (3) fails to provide a current up-to-speed educational environment. We will conform or our application will be rejected yet again.
Now, we can go forward with a rational concept and a viable solution to our broken school buildings. And following this plan we can ensure our eligibility for at least 98,000,000 from the School Building Authority. Essentially, a return on your state income tax investment over the years. I would encourage Middletowners to not pass on this deal. We need the new schools and we need RIDE’s assistance with financing. Pass on this opportunity and we are on our own.
Ed Brady
