Committee OKs $15K Study For DES, Admin Building Conversion

The North Kingstown School Department is taking a closer look at reorganizing many of its buildings. With a unanimous vote, the North Kingstown School Committee approved a $15,000 architectural study and cost projections of converting Davisville Elementary School into a school administration building and reorganizing several school buidings others.

Last month, School Superintendent Phil Auger presented his plan to the committee to use the school district’s buildings more effectively. Auger proposed that the school district’s central administration office, currently located at 100 Fairway Drive next to the high school, be relocated to Davisville Elementary School (DES), which was closed down in 2010 due to declining enrollment and budget cuts. Due to the building’s size, other like departments could be housed there as well – including food service, LINKS (Laymen in North Kingstown Schools), the wellness task force office, finance department, pupil personnel and others. Auger suggested that the building ‘s room could be used for conference areas and possibly even school committee meetings.

For the current central administration building, Auger suggested that the department take advantage of its proximity to the high school and nearby Wickford Middle School and convert it into an alternative learning center.

Auger estimates that the reconfiguration will generate long-term savings, ranging from $400,000 to $800,000 each year by servicing more special education students in-house rather than sending them out of district.

“If we’re spending $500,000 to $1 million to retrofit those buildings this year, that’s a one-time cost,” said Auger. “We’ll be getting a revenue of $400,000 to $800,000 each year in savings.”

Auger projects he will return to the committee with the findings from the architectural study and cost analysis. If approved by the committee, the reconfiguration project could start as soon as this spring.