He is not happy with the $250 million school construction plan. And some school officials are not happy with him.

Two members of the Barrington School Committee voiced concerns about Magnus Thorsson, the chairman of the Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee, and his vocal stance on the $250 million school construction project. 

School Committee members Patrick McCrann and TJ Peck said Thorsson has blurred the line between his official role with his Resilience and Energy Committee and personal advocacy for reducing the carbon footprint of future Barrington schools. 

During a School Committee meeting on April 11, McCrann said Thorsson — he did not use his name but referenced the chairman of the Resilience and Energy Committee — had called the Rhode Island Department of Education and discussed the district’s school construction project. McCrann said Thorsson may have represented himself as someone speaking officially for the schools and informed RIDE administrators that Barrington had, at the April 1 Town Council meeting, committed to building carbon net zero schools.

McCrann said the district has not committed to that measure.

Thorsson disputes McCrann’s claims. He said he emailed Joseph daSilva, who serves as the coordinator for the State’s School Building Authority. 

“I’ve never pretended to be with the schools,” Thorsson said. 

Thorsson provided copies of the email communications shared between him and daSilva. In an April 3 email, Thorsson sent daSilva a link to the video recording of the April 1 Town Council meeting, during which McCrann and Peck addressed the Council. 

Thorsson wrote that the Barrington Public School Department had agreed to conduct a “life cycle cost analysis,” comparing the current proposal with a net zero school that featured photovoltaic and battery energy storage system.

Thorsson said he did not tell RIDE officials that Barrington had committed to building net zero schools, even though he would support that move. 

The Barrington Times contacted McCrann following the April 11 meeting, but the School Committee Chairman declined the opportunity to comment. 

Also at the April 11 meeting, School Committee member Peck said Thorsson had publicly embarrassed the head of RIDE school construction, which is daSilva. (Peck later explained that daSilva was making a speech at a recent public meeting when Thorsson embarrassed him by saying his statements of good work on sustainability were inaccurate.) 

Peck said it was not clear whether Thorsson was speaking in his official capacity as Chairman of the Resilience and Energy Committee or as a private resident. Peck said he does not have a problem with someone publicly scrutinizing the work of the School Building Committee or criticizing it. 

“I fully support those First Amendment rights,” Peck said, adding that his concern is when someone blurs those roles. 

“That’s where the frustration is,” he said. 

Peck said town subcommittees answer to the Town Council and should not operate autonomously. 

During the April 11 meeting, School Committee member Megan Douglas said that town-appointed committees, such as the Resilience and Energy Committee, have a different relationship with the Town Council than the School Committee has with its subcommittees. She said the Town Charter articulates the differences. 

A moment later, Douglas said that no one should be speaking to RIDE officials on behalf of the School Committee or School Building Committee without expressed permission from the School Committee. 

Douglas suggested Barrington School officials reach out to RIDE and let them know who specifically has permission to speak to them on an official basis. 

Other School Committee members agreed with that idea. 

Douglas later said that the Resilience and Energy Committee has reached out to almost every local elected official regarding the school construction plan. She said they were very aggressive. 

Thorsson would not dispute his firm stance when it comes to the school construction plan. He also points to the policy brief from the Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee, which states that the school construction plan “fails to meet Barrington’s pledges and legal mandates for carbon emissions reductions by 2030… The BPS construction Project will expose Barrington taxpayers to unnecessary cost burden and the risk of future liability.”

“Why are we including fossil fuels?” Thorsson asked, referring to the current construction plan. 

“They’re not balancing it out… they’re not doing any electric vehicle charging stations. No solar panels. No geo-thermal. No plan for renewable energy.”

Thorsson added: “They’re talking about sustainability, and there’s no sustainability… They’re attacking my character, but they have nothing to say about my data.”

Editor's note: This article was edited from an earlier version.