At a special meeting on February 27, the School Committee (SC) voted (6-1, Gagnon) to move the kitchen at Narragansett Elementary School from the original building and add it on to the cafeteria in the new modular wing.

Students now eat in the gymnasium adjacent to the kitchen, but needing to use that space for programming, the previous plan that involved bringing food from the kitchen to the new cafeteria proved to be unworkable. Next school year, all 398 Narragansett students will eat in the new cafeteria. The increase of 105 students over this year is mainly due to the attendance zone change. The new kitchen, located on the side of the modular cafeteria, will form a new wing of the school off the existing gymnasium.

The committee had considered a proposal that would permit food to be transported through the gym when it was in use for allied arts programming, but the disruption plus food safety requirements would have been both expensive and temporary. This convinced SC members to approve moving the kitchen.

The cost of building the addition and moving the kitchen is budgeted at $750,000. Funds will come from bond monies approved by voters for the modular project in the fall and from the F20 Capital Improvements (CIPS) budget approved last spring. In addition to funds for the modulars, that project budget included money for the connector, mechanical and electrical, building finishes and contingency totaling $1,940,000. Of that, $478,000 has been saved and will be used for building the kitchen addition. Money from the CIPS budget, $249,000, will cover the cost of moving equipment from the old kitchen and for costs related to that transfer. Based on an opinion by an attorney, the SC did not believe a referendum vote on this expenditure was required.

SC member Phil Gagnon voted not to approve the move because he believed the administration should have anticipated this problem. Superintendent Heather Perry explained that before the instructional schedule was determined they had not realized that there would be this conflict for space.

In additional business the SC voted to approve stipends for spring sports coaches, discussed a draft of the Portrait of a Graduate criteria to be voted on later, and heard a report from the SC and Town Council Facilities Committee which will be meeting to discuss upcoming capital improvements priorities, the town’s bond rating, and the hiring of a consultant.