School Committee Vows to Keep Pell Process Open

The gave an update on the Pell Elementary School design during its regularly scheduled meeting last night and was confronted by dozens of residents who still expressed frustrations from . What was supposed to be a routine public comment session turned into an hour an a half question and answer dialogue between residents and the committee.

Several people left the meeting after the discussion saying they still felt as if they were not being heard, even though chairman Patrick Kelley assured them the school committee would be diligent about keeping the process open through public discourse.

Melissa Pattavina, who co-founded the Newport Alliance for Neighborhood Schools, voiced her concerns to the school committee about being shut out of the design process.

“You have shut us out of the process of building and designing our new elementary school,” Pattavina said. “Designs should have been rendered with our input, not tweaked after the fact.”

Pattavina echoed the issues parents had during last week's forum with HMFH architect Laura Wernick and local architect James Asbel, which was that the public and their input were not being sufficiently considered in the entire design process.

“In fact, the building is not locked in stone. The window is open for suggestions,” Superintendent Dr. John H. Ambrogi said to the visibly frustrated crowd during the meeting.

Committee member Jo Eva Gaines explained to the audience that the design is still flexible and that it was created because the bond could not go to vote without having a tangible design to show the state.

“We couldn't go to the state with a blank page,” Gaines said. “The building committee decided on one building, two schools, with a central common space. That's what we presented as a design. We solicited and are still soliciting. It's an open process. Nothing is closed.”

Drew A. Carey, a member of the ad hoc school building committee, expressed his concerns about the lack of public participation in the process and proposed engagement “early and often” as the best solution with the “broadest possible representation of the community.”

“When the public process is limited, progress on projects becomes forced and divisive,” Carey said.

A point several in audience reiterated was that they wanted to see more than one design, either several from HFMF or putting the design up for bid with submissions from different architects, and having the power to be an influential voice in choosing the final design.

Kelley said he understood the community's concerns and would take all suggestions into account, but the bond is time sensitive and there may not be enough time change architects. The school committee approved the hire of HMFH as architects for the Pell school as of the last school committee meeting.

“We are going to run out of time. For us to sit around and not have any input and be criticized for not reacting to public input doesn't make sense,” Kelley said. “Input will get processed and recognized, but not every idea that everyone has will be incorporated.”

In response to one audience member who suggested scrapping the schematic and finding a new company to render the design, committee member Sandra J. Flowers said the prospect could end the project altogether.

“We have to be realistic. The contract has been signed. I don't even want to think about what would happen if we got rid of the architect,” Flowers said. “First and foremost, we have to be civil towards one another.”