Newport School Committee Approves Pell Conceptual Design, Despite Request from Some to Hold Off the Vote

The Newport School Committee approved the concept for a T-shaped elementary school at its meeting Tuesday night. Rebecca Bolan was the only member opposed in the 6-1 vote, which was strictly regarding the conceptual elements of the school, not specific design details. The vote approved the idea of a T-shaped school with double loaded corridors and centralized common areas, such as the gym, cafetorium and library.

Bolan said she would have liked to see the committee wait at least a week before making a final decision to consider the community's

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Chairman Patrick Kelley walked the audience through the steps already taken by the school committee. The school committee has completed phases one and two, which were necessary to have the bond referendum this past November. They are currently in phase three, which is the schematic design, design development, and construction documents process.

Community members who attended the meeting voiced concerns and urged the school committee to hold off on voting for conceptual approval and take the time to digest input given at Monday night's forum.

“The forum last night was a positive step. . .and [the committee] has gained valuable trust. A quick vote will eliminate that trust,” Kelley Cord, a Newport parent, said. “Hold the vote until you have time to process. . . The forum was a positive step between reconciling the community to build a school.”

Cara Lane also took to the podium to clarify that the audience was not trying to hold up the vote just for the sake of delaying the process.

“No one here is looking to delay anything, we're hoping the best school will emerge," she said. "It's an opportunity for Newport to be on the map for much more than yachts. It's an opportunity to build a state of the art, amazing, collaboration.”

Committee member Robert Leary stressed to the audience that the committee was only voting on the “footprint,” or conceptual design.

“The community should know we're not looking at this to put off their ideas, but there's room going forward for the improvement in the design phase," he said. "This should be about education. . . The design involves the community and that's important to note."

Rebecca Bolan said it was her “second hardest day” on the committee, and compared the decision to approve the footprint to the day the committee had to vote on closing Carey Elementary School.

“I didn't come in with my mind made up,” she said. “It was definitely a move in the right direction last night."

Kelley also brought up the formal complaint filed by George Blake, Terri Flynn, Myles Standish, Saskia Domdeur, Melissa Pattavina, Cara Lane, Kelley Cord, Edwin Michna, Drew Carey, James Asbel and Helene Grosvenor, regarding the “abrogation of due process by the School Committee and School Administration.” The complaint stated that committee and administration “failed in its duties to make appropriate provisions to the public for carrying out a $30 million bond,” and said the school committee “continues to actively and knowingly confuse the public about the actual stage of the design process.” Kelley said the complaint was “not a cooperative approach” to dealing with the frustrations with the design.

Kelley and committee member Jo Eva Gaines addressed the complaint that the school committee did not hold enough meetings to educate the public on school developments. The committee handed out a pamphlet with the dates of 28 meetings regarding the Claiborne D. Pell Elementary School over the past 24 months.

“All the meetings have been open to public," Gaines said. "We had input from people who have come, dropped off and come back. Some dropped off and didn't come back. We have constantly been soliciting input and ideas from the community."

Kelley added that he had not seen any other suggestions from community members voicing frustrations and said he was confident that the HMFH schematic was the “right design.”

“All other things on the table," Kelley said. "Fundamentally,, this is the right plan for what we're trying to design."

The committee dismissed the idea of a January 2013 completion date, citing it as “too aggressive,” but said they would rather opt for a construction completion date of March 31, 2013. The March deadline will allow a thee-month cushion for the required June deadline in case of “project error handing.”