During a meeting last week, members of the Barrington School Committee voted unanimously to release $4 million of surplus bond money to the town. 

The $4 million was left over from the $68.4 million Barrington Middle School construction bond. 

During the school committee meeting on Wednesday, March 30, school department officials said they are withholding about $800,000 of the surplus bond money for any unexpected costs related the completion of the middle school auditorium. 

In an email late last week, Doug Fiore, the director of finance and administration, said the district is not setting aside any funds to complete the middle school auditorium work “at additional expense to the town.” He also wrote that the district fully expects the contractor, Brait Builders, to deliver the “product in accordance with our contract.”

The new middle school has been open for about three years, but the building’s auditorium has been closed off for the last two years. 

The auditorium was closed in the winter of 2020 after school officials discovered that the acoustic panels were falling off the walls. The auditorium has remained closed while the legal teams for the school district and the contractor negotiate a resolution. In a previous interview, Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said the auditorium cannot be reopened until the room is 100 percent safe. 

Completion of the auditorium is one of the few unresolved parts of the middle school construction project. 

The auditorium — the space offers a large stage, balcony, stadium-style seating, a catwalk and more — only hosted a few performances and events before the acoustic panels began falling off the walls. Officials said about two dozen of the acoustic panels have fallen.  

During the school committee meeting on March 30, committee member Amanda Basse asked district administrators if the decision to withhold some of the surplus bond money was related to the middle school auditorium situation. Officials confirmed that it was, although Mr. Fiore said he expected that the $800,000 would later be returned to the town.

What’s next for the surplus bond money?

Members of the Barrington Town Council were expected to discuss the middle school bond surplus during Monday night’s meeting — they were expected to vote on the reallocation of the unspent BMS bond.

According to the proposed resolution regarding the surplus money, the town plans to use the funds for the “design, construction, repair, rehabilitation and improvement of streets and sidewalks in the town, including but not limited to, pedestrian and bike facilities, paving, drainage, traffic control devices, road maintenance equipment, safety improvements, and landscaping and all costs incidental or related thereto.”

The resolution stated that the town had drawn $63.48 million from the $68.4 million bond, leaving about $5 million. Barrington Business and Finance Director Kathy Raposa confirmed that the town could also use the surplus money to pay down the balance of the bond, if officials chose to do so.

Any use of the money for something outside the middle school construction project would require various approvals — both by the town council and by taxpayers at the annual financial town meeting, Ms. Raposa wrote in an email.