Good news for Barrington taxpayers: Construction of the new middle school in town did not cost as much as officials initially expected.

On Tuesday afternoon, April 20, Barrington Schools Superintendent Michael Messore shared a district-wide email announcing a $4.3 million surplus for the project. 

Years ago, Barrington taxpayers approved a $68.4 million bond to pay for construction of the new middle school. And as work progressed, officials became more optimistic that the project would finish under budget. Patrick Guida, co-chairman of the Barrington Middle School Building Committee, said his group has wanted to share the good news with the community for a while.

“We’ve been wanting to do this now for the last four to five months,” he said. 

Mr. Guida said the $68.4 million bond has already been issued, so officials are now left with three options for the surplus money: The $4.3 million can go back to the town to pay down the principal on the bond; the surplus money could be invested; or the money could be spent.

Mr. Guida said the building committee has recommended that school and municipal officials consider using a portion of the $4.3 million on projects that will benefit the middle school and the community in general. Mr. Guida said he personally supports the idea of spending some of the surplus money to install solar panels on the middle school campus.

Mr. Guida said there were relatively few problems with the middle school project. He said there are a few items that need to be completed or corrected before Brait Builders, the contractor, is officially finished with the work. 

“The fields are still not in satisfactory condition,” Mr. Guida said.

“We’ve been going back and forth with Brait Builders. More recently we’ve invited the DPW to get involved...”

Mr. Guida said Brait Builders have agreed to repair the fields to an acceptable condition before closing out the work. He said the contractor and sub-contractor followed protocol when grading the field and seeding the surface. 

“It just didn’t take as well (as planned),” he said, adding that there is irrigation at the field. 

“We knew from the get-go, we knew it would be ambitious for the fields to be ready for this spring.”

Mr. Guida said the plan now is to have the middle school athletic fields ready for the fall sports season. 

Brait Builders is also responsible for repairing some acoustic/aesthetic panels inside the middle school gymnasium, Mr. Guida said. 

“There are some panels inside the gymnasium that didn’t adhere properly,” he said, adding that officials are currently exploring the best option for having the panels reinstalled properly.

“The subcontractor felt the process used for the attachment was reliable,” Mr. Guida said. “It was shown that it wasn’t.

“The things left over are really pretty minor.”

Mr. Guida said that even with funding set aside for contingencies, building committee officials are confident with the $4.3 million surplus estimate. 

Reimbursement rate

When Barrington voters first approved the $68.4 million bond to build the new middle school, officials expected the state would reimburse portions of the work at 35 percent of the approved costs.

That figure shifted during the course of the work, however.

“Subsequent changes to the way the state department of education calculates reimbursement rates for such projects, and as a result of the advocacy of the building and school committee on behalf of the town, have resulted in an expected reimbursement rate of over 40 percent of approved costs,” stated a recent press release from the district. “These amounts will be finalized as the project is closed out and final accounting submitted to the Rhode Island School Building Authority.”