During the Oct. 18 school building committee member, KBA consultant Kate Jessup shared the repair estimates for all the schools in Barrington. 

Barrington High School’s repair costs far exceeded those for the elementary schools — officials said BHS needs $78 million in repairs, while the costs to repair all four elementary schools ranged between $17 million and $23 million.

Barrington School Committee member Patrick McCrann asked why the district was prioritizing the elementary schools over the high school. It was also mentioned that the high school was one of the oldest schools in town. 

Jessup said the high school was bigger and was in “a happy place” with space. 

In a later interview, McCrann said the high school has significant issues. He asked what work the community would want to prioritize, adding that no one knows because school officials have never asked them.

McCrann also said the district’s initial messaging that universal pre-kindergarten was being mandated by the state and that meant Barrington schools needed significantly more space at its elementary schools was presented confusingly. He said RIDE is only calling for an expansion of its mixed modality preK — some students in the schools, others in local private preschools, and some families opting to wait until kindergarten.

McCrann said Barrington is only obligated to provide half-day preK, although school officials have been offering full-day preK, which requires more classroom space. 

McCrann also questioned the district’s decision to offer full-day preK without first voting on the expansion of the program at the school committee level. He said the Barrington School Committee had a lengthy discussion and an official vote before moving from half-day kindergarten to full-day kindergarten in 2013. He said this was a new program, with new costs that were not mandated by the state, and the School Committee felt the need to confirm the approval publicly with a discussion and a vote on the program. 

“Despite that precedent, I don’t believe a similar process has happened with pre-kindergarten,” McCrann said. 

“Barrington can decide if it wants to serve more kids,” he said, “but it has to be an open and public decision with an opportunity to engage and learn from our community."