Warwick schools opened yesterday with the exception of Winman Middle School which has been delayed until Tuesday because of a sprinkler code violation that was not discovered until near completion of the first phase of $13.6 million in work to give the school a HVAC system, new roof, windows, electrical system and generator.

“It cost us three days,” Steve Gothberg, director of capital projects and construction, said of the discovery requiring a redesign of the sprinkler system that it above the ceiling. The added cost was $152,000 that came out of the contingency fund, said Gothberg. He said the new roof was installed during the summer as well as abatement of flooring and piping containing asbestos. Heating and air conditioning will be sufficiently completed by the end of September to ensure ventilation with full completion by April. Window replacement as well as electrical work will take place during the school year.

Last year the opening of five schools was delayed by uncompleted summer construction. As happened last year, Superintendent Lynn Dambruch said she would seek a waiver from the Department of Education so Winman students would not be faced with making up the lost days.

Nonetheless, it was a full court press to open Winman. Personnel including administrators moved furniture back into classrooms and helped cleanup.

Mayor Frank Picozzi joined Dambruch and a handful of administrators yesterday at Hoxsie Elementary School to greet students and their parents. Dambruch reported a smooth opening across the district, relieved that an early morning storm lowered humidity. She said the district was short three teachers for opening day, a far cry from the situation in Providence that is shy nearly 200 teachers. She said the Warwick system picked up some Providence teachers in addition to Denise Milburn who was the principal of a Providence school to become the new principal at Wyman.

Going into opening day, overall enrollment in Warwick schools is 8,709.

Kindergarteners made up the majority of new faces at schools across the district, but they weren’t the only ones. In addition to Miburn at Wyman, Danny Smith is the new Scott School principal; Kristy Patten, assistant principal at Vets Middle School; and Brad Martin, assistant principal at Toll Gate.

Over the summer, renovation and upgrades were completed at Scott, Greenwood and Park Elementary Schools. Work continues at Sherman School that was forced to close after the discovery of mold last fall. The school was moved into the former Gorton Junior High School that was converted into district administrative offices with the consolidation of secondary schools. Rather than simply address the mold, the department elected to fully renovate Sherman including the installation of a HVAC system. Sherman is now projected to reopen in February 2023.

Gothberg is hopeful of meeting the February deadline assuming no further delays resulting from “supply chain stuff.”

Over the summer, site work including a major renovation of the access road and parking lot at Scott School was completed. Gothberg said the work also included landscaping. At Greenwood crews worked on leveling sidewalks, new curbing and new front steps. Also, Gothberg said a crew undertook “major abatement” in preparation for interior work to be done next year.

The department also addressed the “Park School Pond” this summer. The pond forms in front of the school, extending across the parking lot, during periods of heavy rain.  It can take days to drain.

Gothberg said a “huge underground drainage system” was installed along with the repaving of the parking lots. Escalating asphalt prices, however, put a dent in the project. Gothberg said the district only had the funding to pave two thirds of the lot.

Of course, it being such a dry summer, it may be some time before the drainage system is put to the test.

Will the department make any improvements to either of the high schools beyond maintenance and repairs?

“It doesn’t make any sense to put good money in them,” Gothberg said referencing the $350 million bond issue on the November ballot to build new Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools. Should the bond gain voter approval, the plan is to build the new schools on the athletic fields of the existing schools and then raze the old schools and build new athletic facilities on those sites.

Extensive improvements have been completed at the Vets Middle School cafeteria and kitchen. Gothberg said the new kitchen that will serve as the production kitchen for most of the elementary schools is “up and running.”