PRESS RELEASE
During the 2018 Legislative session, the General Assembly enacted various temporary Housing Aid bonuses to help address the $3 billion statewide need identified in the Statewide Assessment. As you may know, districts are eligible to receive up to 20% additional housing aid reimbursement on completed projects, pursuant to Rhode Island General Law. In response to the need identified in the Assessment, East Providence embarked on a new East Providence High School project.
As part of the Statewide Facility Assessment, each public school facility in the state received a Facility Condition Index (FCI) score, which provides a general indicator of a building’s health derived by dividing the total repair cost for a facility by the total replacement cost for the facility. RIGL 16-7-40(e) provides 5% additional Housing Aid reimbursement for facilities that have an FCI score over 65%. East Providence High School’s original FCI score was 44.52%, lower than the statutory requirement. However, because the Statewide Facility Assessment occurred during 2016 and 2017 school years, LEAs are provided an opportunity to request a reassessment of their FCI. On December 29, 2020 the East Providence School Department formally requested an FCI reevaluation of the East Providence High School and the East Providence Area Career and Technical Center. Based on this request, an independent firm performed an updated facility assessment of each facility in April 2021.
The School Building Authority has completed its review of East Providence’s FCI Reevaluation Request and informs you that East Providence is now eligible for the 5% FCI bonus, pursuant to RIGH 16-7-40( e ). Pending final submission of the Housing Aid forms and compliance with RIGL 16-7-41.1, the East Providence High School projects are on target to qualify for the maximum bonus incentives of 20%, which equates to an additional $30 million in state foundational Housing Aid. Debt service for these projects will be reimbursed annually at 74.37% throughout the life of the bond.
| $189,500,000 | Total bond amount for new EPHS |
| -$135,581,800 | Approved RIDE reimbursable amount |
| $53,918,200 | Non-reimbursable balance to be paid by the bond |
| $135,581,800 | Reimbursable Amount by RI Department of Education |
| -$100,832,815 | 74.37% reimbursable amount over life of the bond |
| $34,749,615 | Reimbursable balance to be paid by the bond |
The total amount the City will be responsible for is approximately $88,667,815.
This project serves as a model 21st century learning environment that benefits East Providence students and taxpayers.