The facts on the Chariho unified elementary school bond.Vote Tuesday, November 3

Fixing our three elementary schools would cost about $52 million over the next five years, almost all of it paid by local taxpayers. We'd still have buildings from 1935, 1954, and 1968 without enough room for our kids.The $116 million bond would cost local taxpayers about $41 to $45 million before interest, because the state has to cover at least 61%. One option buys five years of patches. The other buys new schools built to last decades.

The bond is Question 6 on the ballot. It's on the same ballot as the state and federal races, so look for the Chariho question when you vote.

The Facts

What repairs would cost? What will the bond cost? What does this mean for your tax bill?Every number here comes from School Committee minutes, the state's Bureau Veritas building reports, the architect's Stage II materials, or the district's fiscal impact statement. The links are on the Sources page.Figures are based on documents available as of October 2026. If the district releases updated numbers, this page will be revised.

Repair or Rebuild

Repairs would cost about $52 million over five years, almost all of it local. The bond would cost local taxpayers about $41 to $45 million before interest.

In April 2026, the state's Bureau Veritas assessments priced the repairs our three operating elementary schools need over the next five years: Charlestown, Richmond, and Ashaway. The total comes to about $52 million.

How bad is it? Bureau Veritas scores each building with a Facility Condition Index, or FCI. It compares repair needs to the cost of rebuilding the same building as it stands. Anything over 65% is a "Replacement Candidate." Every elementary school BV assessed is above that line.

Hope Valley Elementary closed at the end of the 2024 to 2025 school year because of declining enrollment, and the building went back to the Town of Hopkinton. That's why these repair totals cover the three schools still operating.The $52 million is a floor, not a ceiling.

  • It's in today's dollars. Construction costs will rise before most of these bills come due in 2029 and 2030.

  • It leaves out Richmond's failed north facade. BV says it is leaking into classrooms and damaging the structure. The district has priced the fix, but it isn't in BV's total.

  • It doesn't add room. The three schools have 732 usable seats. October 2024 enrollment was 829.

  • It restores what's there. BV prices repairs as replace-in-kind. We'd spend $52 million and still have buildings from 1935 to 1968.

What the $116 million covers. Construction, furniture, and equipment for the new campus, plus land, demolition, design, playgrounds, landscaping, and paving. At the September 8, 2026 meeting, the project team confirmed costs like furniture and IT are included. The repair estimate covers fixes only. The bond covers a complete, furnished school.$116 million is a limit, not a target. A bond sets the most the district can borrow. Project partners told the School Committee there is a built-in buffer, and the design team will adjust priorities in the next stage to stay within the limit. If the campus comes in under budget, leftover borrowing authority could go toward unexpected repairs at the Switch Road campus. That's why the ballot mentions Switch Road.

When the Repair Bills Come Due

About $45 million of the $52 million lands in just two years: 2029 and 2030.

The repair costs aren't spread out evenly. Roofs, boilers, electrical, plumbing, and windows all reach the end of their life at about the same time. For Charlestown Elementary alone, $21.6 million of its $21.8 million falls in that window.The bills don't stop in 2030 either. The Bureau Veritas reports only look five years ahead, and the next round of aging systems comes after that.The timing lines up with the new campus. Charlestown's biggest bills land right when its students would move into the new Early Explorers building, around fall 2029. Richmond and Ashaway would only need to keep running until Innovators Academy opens around fall 2031. That means keeping them safe and working for a few years, not rebuilding them system by system to last decades more.Saying no doesn't make these bills go away. The repairs still have to be paid for. The state doesn't reimburse routine patching, and without an approved five-year plan, it will only help pay for up to $500,000 a year in elementary repairs. Local taxpayers pay everything above that.

What It Costs Your Household

For a median-value home, the bond would cost about $7 to $8 a month in Charlestown, $27 to $30 a month in Richmond, and $28 to $31 a month in Hopkinton.

The 65% figures come from the district's fiscal impact notice, posted by the Town of Hopkinton on October 2, 2026. They assume 30-year bonds. The district hasn't made a final decision between a 25-year and a 30-year term. The base rate is 61%. Up to 4 more points are available if the district meets the state's requirements, which would bring it to 65%. The district is working toward 65%, but it isn't guaranteed. The 61% figures in the table are our estimate, using the same method. These figures show only the cost of the new bond debt. They don't include yearly operating budget changes such as busing, salaries, benefits, and heating.

Your own cost depends on your home's assessed value. Final figures will depend on interest rates when the bonds are issued.For additional info visit your town websites:

How State Construction Aid Works

The state has to commit to paying at least 61% of the bond's debt service, or the bonds can't be issued. Rhode Island helps pay for school construction through a program called housing aid. It's separate from the yearly state aid that helps fund the operating budget.What the ballot says. The question authorizes up to $116 million in bonds. The bonds can't be issued unless the state approves housing aid of at least 61% of debt service when they're issued. That rate may increase to 65% at project completion. The base rate is 61%, and up to 4 more points are available if the district meets the state's requirements. The district is working toward 65%, but the higher rate isn't guaranteed.

  • At 61%, the local share is about $45.2 million.

  • At 65%, the local share is about $40.6 million.

How it gets paid. The district borrows the money and repays it over time, like a mortgage. Current projections compare 25-year and 30-year terms, and the final term hasn't been set. The plan assumes two borrowings of $58 million each, in 2027 and 2029, each starting with three years of interest-only payments. The state reimburses its share of each payment. You see it as a yearly cost on your tax bill, not a lump sum. Final costs depend on interest rates when the bonds are issued.Why it matters that we haven't used it. Since 2018, every Rhode Island district except Chariho and North Kingstown has been able to build. State money has been paying for new schools everywhere else while ours kept aging.Repairs don't get the same deal. The state doesn't reimburse routine patching. Without an approved five-year plan, it will only help pay for up to $500,000 a year in elementary repairs. It also won't reimburse major repairs unless the district can show the building will last another 30 years.

Why You'll Hear Different Numbers

$116 million, $41 to $45 million, and $74 to $90 million are all accurate. They measure different things.

What about the "$80 million" number? It's one of several projections that include interest. Depending on whether the bonds run 25 or 30 years and whether the state covers 61% or 65%, the local cost including interest ranges from about $74 million to $90 million. It's the same way a $300,000 mortgage costs a lot more than $300,000 by the time it's paid off. The $41 to $45 million figure is the local share of the amount borrowed.The fair comparison is like to like. Before interest, it's $52 million in repairs against $41 to $45 million for the bond. Repairs would carry interest too if the district borrowed to pay for them.

Sources

Every fact on this site comes from a public document. Read them yourself.

Spot something wrong? Email us at [email protected] and we'll check it and correct it.

What We Get

The bond pays for two new elementary buildings on land Charlestown already owns, with safety, room, and classroom space planned from the start. Here's what's in the plan, when it would happen, and what the district has already spent to get here.The design isn't final. The Building Committee works out the details after the vote, within the $116 million limit.

Built for Today's Safety Standards

Our elementary schools were designed in 1935, 1954, and 1968, long before modern school security planning. Security, accessibility, traffic, and classroom spaces in the current buildings no longer meet modern standards.What the state's reports show. Bureau Veritas identified $688,800 in protection and safety needs at Ashaway and Richmond. The protection and safety section of Charlestown's report has no entries. The same report does show that the building has no sprinkler system, forecasts about $1.9 million for fire protection, and lists asbestos ceiling abatement as an immediate need.Repairs can't redesign a building. Fixing a roof doesn't change how a decades-old building controls who comes and goes. The new campus is designed with safety built in from the start, including separate main and bus entrances.Drop-off is part of safety too. Today at Richmond, parent drop-off lines up along Route 138. A School Committee member called that unworkable in October 2025.

What Construction Looks Like

Two buildings, built one at a time, with no temporary classrooms needed.Two buildings, not one big school. Early Explorers would serve Pre-K through grade 1. Innovators Academy would serve grades 2 through 5. That design came from community meetings, where families said one large school felt overwhelming for young kids and asked for smaller communities of learners. The site also fits two buildings better than one large one, and two buildings cost a little less.No swing space. Early Explorers goes up first. Charlestown Elementary students move into it, and then Innovators Academy is built.

This schedule comes from the project team. Core samples at the site found no barriers to construction, and more testing happens in the next design stage.The design isn't final. The Building Committee works out the details after the vote, within the $116 million limit.

Room for Our Kids

Our three elementary schools serve Pre-K through grade 4. They have 732 usable seats, and October 2024 enrollment was 829.

That gap exists before adding a single 5th grader. Repairs can't close it. Fixing the roofs doesn't add classrooms.The new campus would serve Pre-K through grade 5. Moving 5th grade over from Chariho Middle School adds students to the elementary count, so the two buildings are designed for about 1,200, the district's projected Pre-K through grade 5 enrollment for 2031.Room at the middle school too. Moving 5th grade to the new campus frees up space at Chariho Middle School. At the October 21, 2025 meeting, committee members and the state education department's Chief Operations Officer discussed using that space to expand career and technical programs into grades 7 and 8. The district already gets calls about middle school CTE programs. CTE programs bring in revenue for the district, so more room could mean more income, not just more seats.

Built for How Kids Learn Now

Space for today's school teams. School teams now include psychologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. Those roles didn't exist in the 1930s, and the current buildings were never designed around them. The technology, communications, and classroom and support spaces in the current buildings no longer meet modern educational standards. A new campus is built to current Rhode Island school construction standards, with space planned for these services from the start.Cheaper to run. According to the state's Bureau Veritas reports, Rhode Island public schools built or renovated over the last 15 years use, on average, about 30% less energy and 20% less water than buildings designed to basic standards. That's a statewide average, not a promise for this building. For comparison, Richmond Elementary is heated by fuel oil boilers and cooled with window air conditioners.

The Land Deal

The new campus would be built on land Charlestown already owns, at the current Charlestown Elementary School site.On August 4, 2026, Charlestown voters approved a long-term ground lease to the district, 454 to 404. Charlestown keeps ownership of the land. The district owns and operates the school buildings.

  • Under the town's proposal, the initial lease term is about 50 years, with options to renew, for nominal rent such as $1 a year.

  • The lease can't be ended while the bonds are being paid off.

  • The district covers all costs of building, running, and maintaining the school.

  • Wicklund Field stays town property under federal grant rules. The district gets a license to use it for school programs.

  • If the district ever stops using the buildings as a school, the land goes back to the town at no cost. The buildings would be appraised so the town could buy them, and any purchase over $50,000 would need Charlestown voter approval.

In May and June 2026, the district evaluated more than 60 potential properties and found the Charlestown Elementary site was the only affordable, workable location for a unified campus.

What Has Already Been Spent

Rhode Island requires districts to complete a multi-step approval process before the state will reimburse any school construction project.

  • Stage I identifies the need, using facility condition assessments, enrollment projections, and educational programs for each school.

  • Stage II proposes a solution, with design documentation and cost estimates.

These steps aren't optional extras. A district that wants state money for its buildings, for new construction or major repairs, has to complete them.What the district has spent. The district has spent over $2 million on facility needs assessments and reviews for Stage I, including four Stage I applications in the last six years. If Stage II isn't submitted within a year of Stage I, the district has to redo Stage I, which costs over $1 million each time. The state only accepts applications on February 15 and September 15.

Why Waiting Costs More

The 2025 to 2026 amounts are contract amounts, not amounts billed. The School Committee approved the final 2,114-page Stage II application on September 8, 2026, by a vote of 8 to 2, and it has been submitted to the state.This money is only recovered if the project moves forward. At the August 5, 2025 meeting, Colliers said Stage II fees for both the owner's project manager and the architect are reimbursable by the state once a project receives an award and moves forward. If the bond passes and the project is approved, the state covers a share of these planning costs. If the bond fails, local taxpayers cover the full cost.This has already happened once.
That earlier plan qualified for 76% to 81% state aid through a temporary bonus program. The bonus expired in June 2024, a month after the bond failed. Today's base rate is 61%.The 2023 to 2024 planning round produced a plan that voters rejected in May 2024. The district then had to hire consultants and go through Stage II again for the current plan.

Since 2018, every Rhode Island district except Chariho and North Kingstown has been able to build. State housing aid has been paying for new schools everywhere else while ours kept aging.Meanwhile, we keep paying to patch old buildings.

  • The district spent $5.3 million on maintenance this year, about 7.39% of the operating budget. State law requires 3%.

  • Counting capital projects, the district spent $8.5 million in FY26.

  • The district has spent $6 million on elementary school repairs since FY20.

The state doesn't reimburse routine patching, and without an approved five-year plan, it will only help pay for up to $500,000 a year in elementary repairs. Local taxpayers pay everything above that, dollar for dollar.Every failed vote means another round of planning fees, and construction prices keep rising while we wait.A "no" vote doesn't make the buildings' problems go away. The repair needs in the Bureau Veritas reports still have to be addressed, and any major repair project seeking state reimbursement would also have to go through the state's approval process.

FAQ

Weren't the repair numbers inflated?
No. The state education department hired Bureau Veritas to assess every public school in Rhode Island. The district didn't commission the reports. Older figures were adjusted for inflation so they compare fairly, and 87% to 96% of each school's need is normal aging: roofs, boilers, plumbing, and windows reaching the end of their life.Didn't voters already say no?
To a different plan. In May 2024, voters rejected three new schools, which needed approval in each town. This is one campus, decided by the district-wide total, the same way the annual budget is decided.Does voting no save money?
No. The $52 million in repairs still has to be paid. The state doesn't reimburse routine patching, and without an approved five-year plan, it will only help pay for up to $500,000 a year in elementary repairs, so local taxpayers cover the rest. A no vote also means paying for another round of planning, while construction prices keep rising.Is the state money guaranteed?
The bonds can't be issued unless the state approves at least 61% reimbursement. If the state doesn't sign off, nothing gets borrowed. Up to 65% is available if the district meets the state's requirements, and the district is working toward it.Why build in Charlestown?
The district looked at more than 60 properties, and the Charlestown Elementary site was the only affordable, workable option. Charlestown already owns the land and keeps ownership. On August 4, Charlestown voters approved a long-term lease to the district, about 50 years at nominal rent.What will this cost my household?
For a median-value home, about $7 to $8 a month in Charlestown, $27 to $30 in Richmond, and $28 to $31 in Hopkinton. Your cost depends on your assessed value. The details are on What It Costs Your Household.Why does Charlestown pay the least?
Each town's share is based on how many students it sends to Chariho, the same as every annual budget: Hopkinton pays about 39%, Richmond 38%, and Charlestown 23%. Charlestown also has about three times the total property value of Hopkinton or Richmond, so its share is spread across a much bigger tax base. That's why the same project adds less to a Charlestown tax bill.Why not just renovate the schools we have?
The state won't reimburse major renovations unless the district can show the building will last another 30 years, and all three schools are rated as replacement candidates. In September 2025, the architects estimated construction costs of about $90 to $98 million to renovate and add on to all three schools, compared with about $87 to $89 million for a unified school. Renovating would cost about the same and still leave us with buildings from 1935 to 1968.Enrollment is dropping. Why build?
Our three elementary schools have 732 usable seats, and October 2024 enrollment was 829, before adding 5th grade. The buildings are aging no matter how many students we have. The new campus is designed for about 1,200 students, the district's projected Pre-K through grade 5 enrollment for 2031.What if it costs more than $116 million?
It can't. A bond sets the most the district can borrow. The design team will adjust priorities in the next stage to stay within the limit, and project partners told the School Committee there is a built-in buffer.Why does the ballot mention Switch Road?
If the new campus comes in under budget, leftover borrowing authority could go toward unexpected repairs at the Switch Road campus. It isn't a separate project.Is the design final?
No. If the bond passes, a Building Committee works out the details within the $116 million limit. Each Town Council appoints residents from its town to serve on it, alongside School Committee members and district staff.What exactly does the ballot say?
Here is Question 6 word for word:"Shall an act passed at the 2026 session of the General Assembly entitled 'An Act Authorizing the Chariho Regional School District to finance the construction, furnishing and equipping of an elementary school serving the towns of Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton, consisting of one or more buildings on a single campus, and improvements at the Switch Road Campus, including but not limited to costs of land acquisition, demolition, design, health and safety projects, playgrounds, landscaping, paving, and all expenses incidental thereto, by the issuance of not more than $116,000,000 bonds and/or notes therefor, subject to approval of state housing aid at a reimbursement rate or state share ratio of not less than 61% at the time of issuance, which rate or ratio may increase to 65% at project completion' be approved?"Read the official ballot noticeDownload and share the flyer

Celebrating Chariho

Chariho Regional School District serves three communities, Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond, and it does so with something that deserves more recognition: results.There's a common misconception that Chariho's test scores signal a struggling district. The data tell a different story. Chariho's ELA and Math proficiency scores have been rising and consistently outperform the state average.Seeing less than 50% of students score "proficient" can sound alarming out of context. It isn't. These are rigorous state benchmarks, and Chariho holds its own against comparable districts and beats the state average.

Our graduation rate speaks even louder. At 95.7%, Chariho graduates students at a rate more than 11 points above the state average and well above the national average of 87%.

And we do all of this efficiently. Chariho spends less per pupil than comparable districts and below the state average, while delivering stronger outcomes.

CHARIHOtech offers more than 20 career and technical education programs, from Health Careers to Marine Technology to Culinary Arts, and several of those programs generate revenue for the district by offering real services to the public. The Chariho Alternative Learning Academy keeps high-needs students in-district rather than in costly out-of-district placements, providing specialized support while protecting the budget.
That's a district that takes care of its students and spends your money wisely. That's worth protecting.

Get Involved

The Chariho elementary school bond is on the ballot Tuesday, November 3. Here's how to vote and how to help.How to Vote

  • Vote by mail. Apply by 4 p.m. Tuesday, October 13. Applications sent by mail must be postmarked by October 13 and arrive by October 16.

  • Vote early. Early voting runs October 14 through 4 p.m. Monday, November 2.

  • Vote on Election Day. Tuesday, November 3. Find your polling place at vote.ri.gov.

The Chariho bond is Question 6 on your ballot. Read the full ballot question.It's on the same ballot as the state and federal races, and it's a district-wide vote in Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton. The deadline to register for this election was October 4.

How to HelpMost people hear about this vote from a neighbor they trust. Here's what helps most:

  • Tell three neighbors. Send them this site. The Facts page has the numbers and every number has a public source you can check.

  • Volunteer. Join us at an event or canvass with candidates.

  • Write a letter to the editor.

  • Follow and share on social media.