<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4LRTdY_0wCIrIz200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4LRTdY_0wCIrIz200" width="1279" height="853" ><figcaption>Rogers High School Final Design.</figcaption></figure>The Newport School Building Committee will request an additional $2.9 million from the Newport City Council at the council’s October 23 meeting to complete the new Rogers High School project and reinstate some previously deferred items. The committee aims to finish the school in time for a September 2025 opening.In a letter to Mayor Xaykham Khamsyvoravong and City Council members, committee co-chairs Rebecca Bolan and Louisa Boatwright outlined the need for additional funding. The total request includes $4,066,033 to address a budget gap and $1,352,776 for add-alternate items.The committee has secured $2.5 million in grants, reducing the total ask to $2,918,809. “We will continue seeking grant opportunities and look forward to more good news in the future months,” Bolan and Boatwright wrote.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0SVr3H_0wCIrIz200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0SVr3H_0wCIrIz200" width="673" height="839" ><figcaption>Screenshot of letter to Newport City Council</figcaption></figure>The Rogers High School project is part of a larger statewide initiative to improve school buildings. In 2017, Rhode Island conducted a School Building evaluation, which identified Rogers as the school “most in need of replacement” in the entire state.Newport voters approved a $106 million school bond in 2020 with 78% support. The bond included a 52.5% state reimbursement rate. However, the project has faced challenges due to inflation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.The School Building Committee needs to contract the final phase of site work at its Nov. 18 meeting to avoid subcontractor prices expiring on Dec. 1, 2024.“We are excited about our new high school and look forward to September 2025 when our students and staff will enter our new building,” the co-chairs stated in their letter.The additional funding would allow for the completion of several items previously put on hold, including upgrades to parking lots, building signage, and landscaping improvements.Among the proposed add-alternates are $353,766 for upgrading the Old Fort parking lot and lighting, $384,879 for upgrading the West parking lot and lighting, and $176,019 for building-mounted and site directional signage.Other items include custom vinyl graphics for various areas of the school, additional trees and shrubs throughout the campus, and granite curbs for all roadways.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Newport School Building Committee seeks additional funds for Rogers High School project

The Newport School Building Committee will request an additional $2.9 million from the Newport City Council at the council’s October 23 meeting to complete the new Rogers High School project and reinstate some previously deferred items. The committee aims to finish the school in time for a September 2025 opening.