EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence School Committee held a to-the-point, rather brief monthly meeting on Tuesday night, Oct. 10, in the high school auditorium.

The Committee heard its usual updates from department directors, including Finance chief Craig Enos, who reiterated the district continues to watch its spending as the end of the current 2022-23 fiscal year approaches on October 31.

At its September gathering, Enos told the Committee the administration had put a hold on most expenditures as its budget was strained due to an unexpected increase in enrollment and the subsequent need to hire additional staff at East Providence High School in time for the start of the 2023-24 school term this past summer.

Last week, Enos, in response to an inquiry by Ward 4 representative Jessica Beauchaine, said the administration is still adhering to a strict spending policy, but has been and will continue to purchase the necessities like classroom supplies, health supplies, etc.

Enos said of the financial situation at the moment, "We're much more optimistic than we were last month and we will continue to be cautious with our expenses over the next three weeks (the end of the '22-23 fiscal year)."

In addition, the Finance director said the district had received its full share of aid from the state as provided in the FY23-24 budget passed by the General Assembly in June. East Providence, he said, received a dispersement of over $38.4 million or about $320,000 more than the previous year.

Pawtucket Ave. project
Chris Murphy, the district's Director of Facilities, provided the Committee the latest on projects being conducting around the system as well as one, set for Pawtucket Avenue, that hasn't yet kicked off and is not under his purview.

Murphy was asked about the status of the planned water main replacement and replacement/movement of a traffic light mast arm project on Pawtucket Avenue at the entry to East Providence High School by Ward 1 member Ryan Queenan.

The director noted it was a City of East Providence project, saying he misspoke when he referred to the effort as a state endeavor at the Committee's September meeting.

Murphy said he was told shortly after that forum the city planned to push off the start of the project for several weeks, deep into October.

Murphy said he was told by the administration of Mayor Bob DaSilva the project, being overseen by the city Department of Public Works, would begin sometime in the third or fourth week of October with the completion date of no later than November 15, which the director, as he did previously, noted it is a state mandate that its roads are "paved, sealed up and ready for the winter" by the aforementioned mid-November date. He speculated work could potentially start the week of October 16.

Francis bioler fix
On another topic of relevance, Murphy informed the Committee the district was about to begin a Request for Proposal process for the purchase and installation of new a boiler at Myron Francis Elementary in Rumford.

The director said Superintendent Dr. Sandra Forand, absent from the meeting still grieving the loss of her father, Vin, was "very concerned" about the condition of the heating apparatus at the school. The boiler for the 50,048 square-foot facility built in 1989 is over 20 years old and in need of replacement.

Enos later added when asked about how the project would be funded that it would come from either the district's coffers directly or from the city side where the Council, the same Tuesday evening October 10, was in the process of formalizing its support of the initiative.

Said Enos, "The superintendent wants us to move on with that...She made it clear with me that she wanted this to go forward and this needed to go out."

The Council did, in fact, reappropriate funds in the amount of $130,000 from the city side Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvements budget to the school side for the Francis Elementary HVAC situation. The monies will continue to be held by the Council and will be dispersed to the district on an as-need basis.

Of note, the Council did the same with two other school-related FY23-24 Capital items: a cafeteria/gym divider at Riverside Middle School for $35,000 and a playground fence at Orlo Elementary for $52,000.

More facilities notes
Murphy provided the follow bullet-point list of other projects being done in the district:

• The Orlo Avenue and Silver Spring Elementary window projects have completed the installation stage and are now at the punch list phase.
• The Riverside Middle School window replacement project, expected to be undertaken over an extensive period of time, is moving along as scheduled. Also at RMS, the district will soon be accepting bids for the renovation of its Science labs and Library.
• And at EPHS, there remain 13 items on punch list, six of which are "administrative" (paperwork) in nature.