Want to learn more about the upcoming $250 million school construction project in Barrington?

Residents can participate in a special “community conversation” on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at the Barrington Middle School cafeteria, from 7 to 8 p.m. The meeting will be focused on refining the preferred direction of the plans for each of the four schools involved in the upcoming work. 

Officials are planning to renovate and build additions at Sowams, Primrose Hill and Nayatt elementary schools, and at Barrington High School. Taxpayers approved a $250 million bond to pay for the upcoming work. 

Chris Spiegel is the OPM (owner’s project manager) assisting Barrington Public Schools with the work. Spiegel, who works with LeftField project management, spoke at the Barrington School Committee meeting on Thursday night, Dec. 5, and emphasized the importance of a robust public engagement effort. 

He said officials working on the project want to solicit as much feedback about the project early in the process. He said changes in the designs cost nothing, but changes in construction can cost millions. 

Spiegel said he has met with all the school PTOs to discuss the plans and gather additional feedback. 

He said the designs included in a district’s Stage II submission to the Rhode Island Department of Education are almost always changed by the end of Stage III in the process. Spiegel said state reimbursement figures are tied directly to the allowable amount of square footage for future school demographics. But those sizes will often change dramatically after the Stage II submissions are approved. 

Spiegel said design teams are then focused on building the right size project and achieving maximum value. 

Newly-elected Barrington School Committee member Tim McNamara told Spiegel that there are many residents in town who are not aware of the upcoming school construction project. 

Committee Chairman TJ Peck mentioned a number of ways officials plan to spread the word about the work. 

Spiegel also referenced the neighborhood meetings held for people who live near the impacted schools. He said officials could hold those meetings earlier than initially planned. 

Spiegel also reminded people about the Dec. 10 meeting at the middle school.