City and schools leaders in Central Falls, R.I., put forth plan for new high school, other facility upgrades

The school district and city council in Central Falls, R.I., have agreed on a 10-year plan to construct two new schools and renovate multiple existing buildings.

The Valley Breeze reports that the proposal submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Education calls for construction over the next decade of a new high school and a new dual language preK-8 school, as well as renovation of three existing schools – Dr. Earl F. Calcutt Middle School, and Veterans Memorial and Ella Risk elementary schools.

District officials say the existing Central Falls High School is roughly 100 years old and shows plenty of signs of its age.

The proposed replacement campus would be a $110 million high school built on the site of the city-owned Higginson Avenue/Francis Corrigan Sports Complex. It would serve about 750 students.

The existing high school campus would be demolished and replaced by a $60 million dual language school. Once that school is ready, the city is proposing to close the Captain Hunt School Early Learning Center and the Margaret I. Robertson School. After those projects have been completed, Central Falls will renovate Calcutt, Veterans and Ella Risk. All three renovated campuses would be converted to preK-8 grade configurations.