By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com
Governor Gina Raimondo announced Tuesday her new School Building Authority is open and ready to help municipalities fix their deteriorating education infrastructure.
During a ceremony at Kickemuit Middle School in Warren, Raimondo said the Building Authority will be aided by a $20 million grant to kick start projects and help get Rhode Islanders back to work.
“So, step one is an independent assessment of what we need, step two is making money available to get people to work,” said Raimondo.
The Governor says cities and towns can get their foot in the door for projects sooner by submitting applications to the Authority, but the Rhode Island Department of Education already has a list of short term projects to tackle.
Board of Education Chairperson Barbara Cottam says by repairing aging school buildings around the state they are taking care of Rhode Island’s children.
“The latest school assessment study [says] the average age of our school buildings is 58 years; which is very old,” said Cottam.
“Buildings such as that require many repairs and it’s time that we started.”
The formation of the School Authority also lifts the moratorium on school construction which had been in place for several years.
