A new Johnston High School, but for fewer students?

The town plans to build a new high school, but for 80 fewer students than the old school.

Around 840 students attend Johnston High School this year, but projections show that number will plummet over the next four years.

But just a few hundred yards away from the school, a developer is building 28 “market rate units” in a condo development at 1767 Atwood Ave (one of many brand new housing construction projects greenlit in the Ocean State in the wake of looser building and zoning regulations meant to address the ongoing “housing crisis”).

The Numbers

Johnston and other Ocean State municipalities are required to follow strict specifications for school building projects. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) dictates almost every detail, from the size of the over school to the size of gymnasiums and auditoriums (based mostly on school enrollment figures).

“The high school currently has about 840 students attending,” according to Johnston Public Schools Superintendent Bernard DiLullo Jr. “The planned building will be built for 761 as NESDEC (New England School Development Council) projections show our enrollment to begin to decrease in the 2025-26 school year reaching 761 in the 2028-29 school year. RIDE requires these projections to be submitted with Stage 2 to determine the reimbursable allowance for a new structure.”

On Sept. 17, the Johnston School Building Committee received an update on the project. Members of the Colliers (project managers) and SLAM (engineers and architectural design) teams delivered the “new Johnston High School Schematic Design Update.”

According to a slide presentation from SLAM and Colliers, the new high school will be about 150,000 Gross Square Feet (GSF). The district faces a Stage 3 school construction plan submission deadline (to RIDE) at the end of October.

Earlier this month, on Sept. 3, the School Building Committee received an update on the nearby elementary school building project. That same night, they also set a special meeting for Tuesday, Oct. 22, to review and possibly approve the Stage 3 submission for the Johnston High School.

The Timetable

It may be about three years before new students occupy the new Johnston High School.

“The projection right now is for the new high school to open in the fall of 2027,” DiLullo said last week. “It will be a new facility attached to our current gymnasium which will be completely renovated.”

The current building has reached the half-century mark, and town voters passed a $215 million school funding bond (Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. promised voters the bond would be paid for by annual payments from Amazon and would not result in tax increases).

Career Education

“The new building will give us the flexibility to add and improve Career and Technical programs as well as updated classrooms and science labs,” DiLullo explained. “The building will have modern common spaces such as a media center, dining commons and auditorium that meet the current needs of our students, staff and the community.”

Schools across the state are trying to reduce out-of-district enrollment numbers by bringing students back to the district with newly innovated career pathway programs.

“I’ve instructed the school department that it must present the town a plan on how it will implement the new CTE programs while maintaining a similar operating budget of their current level,” Polisena said. “They’re actively working on that and I have complete and total faith they’ll get it done.”

In its tax incentive agreement with the town, Amazon pledged financial support of future career programs in Johnston.

“As I’ve said many times before, I have no say in the school department but I think this would be a great opportunity to make Johnston High School like Cranston West and place a greater emphasis on trades,” Polisena wrote via email earlier this week. “If done correctly, I think Johnston, with its centralized location, would have a unique ability to not just retain current students that are leaving to go out-of-district but also attract new students from outside of Johnston too (which we would be paid for).”

The Size

Some School Building Committee members have raised concerns at past meetings about the new school’s reduced capacity.

“As the architects pointed out in the meeting, there is room for more in the building as well as space on the campus to expand if necessary,” DiLullo said.

The mayor had hoped to build the new school with a little room to grow.

“I think it’s troubling RIDE is not allowing us to overbuild, but nothing surprises me with RIDE anymore,” Polisena said Wednesday morning. “It’s pretty disturbing that’s what RIDE is forcing on us, but time will tell if this presents a problem.”

The Plan

Planners have decided to retain the current JHS gymnasium, because it’s much larger than current RIDE specifications would permit. The new school will be built over a portion of the current parking lot, between the gym and the football field.

“Regarding the specs of the school, the gym will be refurbished as RIDE doesn’t allow for gyms that large to be reimbursed if built new,” Polisena said. “The fields will also stay in their current places. The front of the high school will flip from facing Cherry Hill to Atwood Avenue.”

Topping Off

The same day as the planned special meeting, on Oct. 22, the town plans to hold a special topping-off ceremony for the new elementary school (behind the town’s indoor recreation center on Atwood Avenue, just up the street from the high school).

The ceremony — “where the final steel beam will be placed then they will start to enclose the structure,” according to Polisena — will likely be held during the school day, so students can add their signatures to the beam.

So far the elementary school project has been on-time and on-budget, according to Polisena.

“We need to rethink the current traditional model of education and place more of an emphasis on teaching these students life-skills, which will not only help them in any career they choose, but in other everyday life settings too,” Polisena said. “I am a firm believer that even if a student would like to go to college, they should be required to take some sort of a trade through CTE.”

Excitement is building in Johnston as the town prepares to open two brand new schools over the next few years.

“I am very excited for the opening of the new school,” said Johnston High School Principal Matt Velino. “As a proud JHS graduate, it is no doubt a bittersweet experience as I have many fond memories here, however, I am looking forward to the experiences that all of the future Panthers will have in the new school. I am extremely thankful to be able to be a part of this process and greatly appreciate the support of the community. As always, Go Panthers!”