As School Committee Chair Shaun Galligan points out not since the Warwick Beacon hosted a forum prior to the 2022 election at the Crowne Plaza has there been a public review and discussion of the new Toll Gate and Pilgrim high schools.

That’s going to change on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Middle School.

“There’s a lot of rumors out there,” Galligan said of social media and the need to update the public on efforts to keep school costs within the $350 million bond approved by voters in 2022 considering the impact of inflation and changes in design.

 “Value engineering,” as it is referred to has resulted in reductions in the overall square footage and windows of the buildings in an effort to adhere to the budget. The projected Pilgrim groundbreaking is March 2025 followed by Toll Gate about two weeks later, said Steve Gothberg, school director of capital projects and construction.

“The community needs to know where we’re at. This is the largest school construction project in the state,” Galligan said.

School Committee member Karen Bachus shares his opinion. She, too, has heard “a lot of rumors” about the schools and changes since the initial designs were shared with voters before the 2022 vote. She believes the new schools could have a positive impact on the system and the city if done properly.

“It could be a boon or a boondoggle,” she said.

Unlike school meetings held prior to the vote on the $350 million bond where school plans and renderings were displayed and the public got to speak one-on-one with architects and school officials, the meeting will open with a presentation including visuals of plans and explanations by LeftField, project managers from Boston.

Galligan said the presentation will include information on those aspects of the projects that are eligible for state reimbursement of up to 55% as well as other financial aspects of the projects including contingencies for over runs and change orders. He plans regular public updates on school construction progress with another meeting in October.

“Most don’t understand the process,” Gothberg said of Rhode Island Department of Education requirements. He expects much of the meeting will be devoted to “explaining the process and where we go from here.”

“We’re not handing out plans,” he said. He said that would be premature to approvals from RIDE.

One of the initial steps to construction will be demolition of Drum Rock School in advance to construction of Toll Gate. While the school could have been used the school until February 2025, Gothberg said the decision was made not to disrupt the two programs housed there mid-year and to relocated them by the opening of school this year.

David Testa, chair of the School Building Committee, takes issue with the term “value engineering.”

He explains there has been a “redesign” since the original drawings and that the goal “is to put as much as humanly possible into these buildings [based on the budget].”

“We know what the budget is and I’m not going to support going back for more money,” he said.

Does this mean smaller buildings and the elimination of programs?

Testa said building square footage drives cost and trimming the width or corridors and height of ceilings cuts costs.

“The majority of the cost savings will come out of the building itself,” he said.  Testa expects questions will be raised on space sizes, noting that can be dictated by RIDE requirements.

“All the plans will continue to evolve,” he said.

“I’m confident we can do this [build new Toll Gate and Pilgrim High Schools for $350 million],” he said.