With decisions on what to do with the school budget surplus and the Meadowbrook Farm Elementary School roof and floor situation looming, the School Committee and the district’s School Building Committee will be getting together for a joint meeting next week.
The work session, with school project funding recommendations on the agenda for discussion, will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at East Greenwich High School’s guidance suite.
While the School Committee has already requested permission from the Town Council to use one third of the estimated $6 million surplus from the $52 million school bond on roof replacement at the high school and Frenchtown Elementary School, the school boards will be discussing other priorities Tuesday.
A potential $4 million worth of work at Meadowbrook, involving both replacement of the roof and replacement of a deteriorating floor system. is the most expensive piece of the puzzle. The daunting cost of the work has had school officials considering retirement of the 40-year-old building, but enrollment and classroom space studies have quieted talk of closing the school.
Building Committee Chairman Jay Gowell said his board has had difficulty in finding a consensus on what to do about Meadowbrook, while School Committee Chairwoman Deidre Gifford is hoping to make a decision on the school sometime this month.
Gowell said the original cost of the Meadowbrook roof replacement, $1 million, has ballooned to the $3-4 million range.
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