Johnston receives $85M bond to begin school improvements

THE TOWN OF JOHNSTON has been issued an $85 million bond from the R.I. Health and Educational Building Corp. to be used to finance the town’s first phase of its district-wide school facility improvement plan. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THE TOWN OF JOHNSTON has been issued an $85 million bond from the R.I. Health and Educational Building Corp. to be used to finance the town’s first phase of its districtwide school facility improvement plan. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

JOHNSTON – The town has been issued an $85 million bond that will be used to finance the first phase of its districtwide school facility improvement plan, the R.I. Health and Educational Building Corp. announced Monday.

Back in April, Johnston voters overwhelmingly approved a new $215 million school construction bond that would significantly transform the town’s school buildings, many of which are dated. The overall plan calls for Johnston’s school system to decrease the number of facilities from seven to four.

Additionally, the plan calls for a new elementary school and an early childhood center, and renovations to both Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School and Johnston High School. The $85 million issuance is part of that voter-approved $215 million bond.

RIHEBC Executive Director Kim Mooers said in a statement that the $85 million bond was sold to investors at a premium of $8.5 million, generating a total of $93.5 million to pay for the first phase. The 30-year bond has an all-in cost to borrow of 4.63%, she said.

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Johnston’s first construction phase will involve building the new elementary school and early childhood center. Johnston School Superintendent Bernard DiLullo previously told Providence Business News the elementary school students, DiLullo said, will then be moved to a new elementary school for grades 1 through 4 that will be built on land adjacent to Johnston High School. This new school will house approximately 1,100 students, and will include a gymnasium, a media center and classrooms to support art, music and STEAM programs. The fifth graders will then move into the kindergarten wing at Ferri Middle School that will be called a “Fifth Grade Academy.”

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.

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