Middletown Public Schools

Middletown, Rhode Island

Approved May 10, 2023

MPS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING

Oliphant Administration Building

Michael S. Pinto Conference Room

26 Oliphant Lane, Middletown, RI 02842

April 26, 2023 5:00pm

Members in Attendance:

Present	Voting Member	Name	Title
X	Yes	Edward Brady	Co-Chair, Community Member
X	Yes	Charlie Roberts	Co-Chair, Community Member
N	Yes	Rosemarie Kraeger	Superintendent of Schools
X	Yes	Tami Holden	Member of School Committee
X	Yes	Theresa Spengler	Member of School Committee
X	Yes	Poe George	Director of Facilities Management, Transportation and Safety
X	Yes	Thomas P. Welch, III	Town Council Member
X	Yes	Jeffrey Heath	Middletown High School Principal
N	Yes	Michelle Fonseca	Asst Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
X	Yes	Shawn Brown	Town Administrator, Local Budget Official
X/N¹	Yes	William Nash	Community Member
N	Alternate	Gregory Huet	Alternate Member of School Committee
P	Alternate	William O’Connell	Alternate Member of School Committee
N	Alternate	Christopher M. Logan	Alternate Town Council Member
N	Alternate	Bill Niemeyer	Gaudet Middle School Principal
N	Alternate	Marc Tanguay	Town Finance Director, Alternate Local Budget Official
P/X¹	Alternate	Marc Thayer	Alternate Community Member
P	Alternate	Don Morin	Alternate Community Member

X = Present/Voting; R=Represented; P=Present/Non-voting; N=Not Present

· Call to Order

· The meeting was called to order at 5:01 pm by Co-Chair Charlie Roberts. Nine (9) out of eleven (11) voting members were present or represented by an alternate.

· Also present: Justin Bernard, OPM, Colliers Project Leaders; Ed Cifune, DBVW Architects; and a few community members.

· Present via Zoom: Matt LaRue, Tina Stanislaski, HMFH Architects; Manuel Cordero, Civic.

¹NOTE: Bill Nash had to leave at 5:54pm. At that time Marc Thayer represented Bill as the third

voting community member.

· Approval of Meeting Minutes from April 12, 2023

· MOTION: Theresa Spengler moved to accept the meeting minutes from April 12, 2023 and Ed Brady seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).

· Public Input

· A member of the community asked if he could speak about his idea regarding how to help pass the bond vote using the website. Co-Chair Roberts explained that only topics on the agenda could be discussed but asked the attendee to give him his name and contact information and they would connect after the meeting.

· ACTION: Connect with the community member who wants to share information regarding how to help pass the bond vote using the website. – Co-chair Roberts

· Update on Conceptual Layouts of new Middle/High School

· Matt LaRue shared an update on the Space Planning for the new middle/high school. The consultants have been meeting with the administrative team weekly to understand the district’s priorities. The planning was developed using the following general guidelines:

· Programming for a total student population of ~1000 students.

· Analysis of RIDE guidelines to maximize reimbursement.

· Planning for optimized use of shared spaces between the middle and high school.

· District offices are not included in the plan.

· Learning spaces were allocated for core academics, special education, art/music, and career tech.

· Separate cafeteria spaces with a cafetorium in the middle school space, along with a shared kitchen.

· Separate media centers with a shared office, and a shared auditorium and full stage with capacity to seat 2/3 of the high school population (per RIDE guidelines.)

· Separate administration offices for middle and high school, separate medical suites, and separate guidance offices.

· One large, shared gymnasium with an auxiliary fitness/weight room and separate locker rooms. Health instructor offices can be paired with the locker rooms.

· Matt shared an update on the draft enrollment numbers. As military family enrollments fluctuate often and have a large impact on the enrollment projections, the team will provide mid-year enrollment data for a more complete picture. Superintendent Kraeger has met with the military to try to get an idea of the expected increase in military families in the future. A dip in enrollment due to COVID could change as the district expects some students will return. Manuel Cordero added that RIDE may consider higher numbers due to COVID if the demographer declares the dip as an anomaly.

· Theresa Spengler added that the Naval War College is being pushed to fill its classes which could increase the number of military families in the area.

· Consultants Two Week Look Ahead

· Matt LaRue shared an update on the geotechnical borings at the Gaudet site. The first round of sixteen borings were completed between April 10^th and April 14^th at depths of 16-21 feet below grade. Water levels in two groundwater monitoring wells were observed at seven and ten feet. The site appears suitable for conventional shallow foundations. The stamped report should be ready in about a month.

· Coordination with RIDOT on Aquidneck Avenue utilities is taking place. Plans to install a stub-in to the new water line are being made now.

· The team hopes to finalize the demographics report during the week of May 1^st.

· Work to start the wetlands delineation and a geo-environmental instigations site visit will take place during the week of May 1^st.

· The consultants would like to hold a sustainability visioning workshop sometime in mid-May. Co-chair Roberts asked what the workshop would cover, and Matt explained it would look for direction on energy conservation/efficiency, renewables, waste, materials, and student health. The hope is to establish goals for sustainability that could then be incorporated within the building design.

· Update on the Educational Plan and Survey Responses

· Manuel Cordero shared an update on the education plan and survey responses.

· Teacher focus groups were recently completed; they focused on spatial needs and provided feedback on initial program diagrams.

· There were 150 responses to the community survey with a large percentage of those (~70%) coming from parents of students in the district. The survey provided input on favorite spaces/places (athletic fields and outdoor spaces/playgrounds) and least favorite spaces/places (cafeteria, hallways, and classrooms).

· Regarding types of educational spaces to be prioritized, welcome and safe entries and assembly/community spaces topped the list.

· Over 70% of respondents to a write-in question asking what space or physical feature is most symbolic of the district listed the Gaudet athletic fields.

· The types of community spaces to be prioritized were the auditorium, gymnasium, and athletic fields.

· When asked about additional CTE programs, the top three were marine trades, business and hospitality/tourism.

· Manuel also had the opportunity to meet with the representatives of the High School Government on April 25^th to gather information about what they’d like to see in a new middle/high school, and he has plans to meet with the AP Government class during the week of May 1^stto review their student survey information.

· Update on the Approved Master Plan for Grades PreK-12 Along with District Administration and Maintenance

· At the last meeting, the Building Committee approved the master plan and forwarded it to the School Committee for their review. The School Committee reviewed the plan at their April 20^th meeting and will vote on the plan at their next meeting on May 18^th.

· Update on Consolidated Schedule and Milestone Calendar

· Justin Bernard informed the Committee that the schedule is still being developed and is not ready for review. He added that the team is on track to get a Stage II Draft to RIDE in June.

· Update on Rework of the Building Committee Website

· Dr. Heath informed the Committee that he is mentoring a group of six students who are developing a new website for the Building Committee as part of their senior capstone project. Some have experience with web design while others do not.

· Dr. Heath gave a brief demo of the new site, which is being modeled after a few other websites used by other towns/school districts.

· Review of Live Broadcast of Building Committee Meetings

· Don informed the Committee that he met with David Annese to discuss options for live broadcasting of the Building Committee meetings. Going live would require the Committee to use a Zoom webinar instead of a Zoom meeting and would require more administration from the host. Currently the Zoom meeting is set up to allow for the consultants to connect from their offices.

· The Committee currently does not share the Zoom information with anyone other than the consultants, and the consultants can freely speak and share topics with the Committee. To allow others to join, the Zoom link would need to be added to the agenda, and the agenda would have to be posted to an easily accessible location.

· Don explained that the current Zoom meetings are posted to the School District’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@middletownpublicschoolsrho3022), and they are typically posted within 24-28 hours for anyone to watch after the fact.

· Shawn Brown suggested that Don reach out to Matt Wainwright, IT Director for the Town of Middletown to learn how the Town Council meetings are currently pushed to the Town’s YouTube channel.

· ACTION: Connect with Matt Wainwright to learn how the Town Council meetings are currently pushed to YouTube. – Don

· Update on Enabling Legislation

· Shawn informed the Committee that the state Senate has not been meeting but that he has a meeting with the House Speaker next week. He added that the legislation for the $190M bond was revised and approved by the Town Council at its last meeting, allowing for more flexibility to handle potential project risks.

· Adjournment

· MOTION: Co-chair Ed Brady moved that the Building Committee adjourn at 6:26 pm and co-chair Charlie Roberts seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-0).

Future Meeting Schedule – The next meeting will be held on May 10, 2023 at 5:00p.m. at the Oliphant Administration Building.

Respectfully Submitted,

Don Morin