EAST PROVIDENCE — The public got its first real glimpse of how the process of funding the new East Providence High School project will proceed during a discussion between city and district officials at the January 22 council meeting.

The talks took place as part of a broader overview of the effort, including the need to immediately terminate a deal between the schools, the city and Bayside FC youth soccer group over use of the artificial turf field on the EPHS grounds. The parties needed to separate under a settlement based on the terms of the original agreement signed in 2015. It was agreed the organization would be compensated about $1.1 million to give up its claims to the field (See story on page ???).

Voters last November approved a $189.5 million bond to pay for the total cost of the new EPHS, but the city should expect to be compensated by the state for a considerable amount of that figure based on current and potential reimbursement percentages.

Superintendent of Schools Kathryn Crowley told the council the Rhode Island Department of Education would shortly inform the district exactly how much money it would provide the city for the new high school, which could be as much as 75 percent on about $130 million of the project, and that the city should start receiving the money in the spring possibly by April at the earliest.

Before that, however, the district and city will need to procure what is called a bond anticipation note to help fund the project. The loan money would be used to pay initial costs to the project architects, the national firm Ai3, the district’s project manager, city-based Peregrine, and the contractor, locally-owned Gilbane.

Superintendent Crowley told the council the district continues to work on setting up the funding process with the city’s bonding counsel, Karen Grande of the Providence law firm Locke Lord Edwards, and project financial consultant William Fazioli, the city resident and a director at the Providence-based firm PFM Financial Advisors LLC.

Mr. Fazioli, in attendance at the January 22 meeting, told the council the city would need to seek a bond anticipation note to the sum of approximately $25 million in lieu of receiving monies from the state. He said the $25 million should “satisfy the first-year financing requirements” of the new EPHS project. He added, the council will soon have to approve the issuance of the note, likely by March, to meet the schedule of construction.