At a special session of the East Providence School Committee held Tuesday, Feb. 20, the body approved a pair of key arrangements for projects planned at Waddington Elementary School and Riverside Middle School.

The Committee backed the $14.7 million guaranteed maximum price agreement included in the initial contract with Shawmut Design and Construction for the Waddington endeavor, which calls for significant renovations to the existing structure.

A guaranteed maximum price agreement, colloquially known in the trade as a GMP, does exactly what it says. It sets a to-end price for a construction project. Any costs beyond the agreed upon figure will be absorbed by the contractor. The deal is sometimes also called a construction manager at risk agreement.

Waddington's GMP is focused mostly on reconfiguring the 70-year-old building's "open" style classrooms. According to the plans presented by the district's owner project manager, the city-based Peregrine Group, the remodeling will address "safety, security and acoustical issues by constructing full height walls with recessed doors and new casework for storage."

Peregrine's Anne DaSilva, a senior project manager for the company, led the brief discussion by the Committee on both projects. DaSilva said the $14.7 million GMP was "within the budget of what was approved previously" by the body.

She also stated her outfit continues to work with Shawmut to include a curtain wall in the rear of the school. Known as "Alternate No. 1," meaning it is not currently included in the scope of the main plans, DaSilva said the sides "are trying to incorporate" the curtain into the $14.7 million framework.

The RMS plan is considerably smaller in scale. It calls for converting the existing library into a Media Center with a Maker/Building Lab while "modernizing" six of the eight existing Science classrooms into "flexible" labs.

Last Tuesday, the Committee approved a contract in the amount of $2.6 million with the Collins Construction Company to perform the work. Collins, a Fall River-based entity which is a licensed commercial/residential contractor in Rhode Island, began the project while classes were out due to the February vacation.

As a reminder, monies to fund the Waddington projects was provided by voters at the November 2022 election when residents overwhelmingly approved a $148 million bond measure. The bulk of that sum is being used to pay for the near completed reconstruction of Martin Middle School.

The district is being reimbursed by the state at a base rate of 48.5 percent and could receive an additional 20 percent if, as planned, efficiency and other standards are met. The funding for the RMS effort comes from the state in the form of a Facility Equity Initiative grant, with the balance being reimbursed by housing aid, according to District Finance Director Craig Enos.

EPHS class trip
Impetus to hold a special session as well was the need for the Committee to approve a request from East Providence High School to take a class trip to New York the next week, on Friday, March 1.

Vinhateiro named co-chair
The last of the action items taken by the Committee was officially naming former district superintendent of schools Manny Vinhateiro as co-chair of the District's Building Committee, a position he will share with former At-Large School Committee member and chair Joel Monteiro.

In placing the measure up for a vote Ward 4 School Committee member Jessica Beauchaine noted the full Building body had previously approved the move. Beauchaine also mentioned Vinhateiro's long-standing role in helping guide the Building group — He has been a member since it was formed to oversee construction of the new EPHS back in 2019 — as a reason to support the decision.