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General Treasurer Seth Magaziner today celebrated the progress of the historic investment made in Rhode Island schools through a once-in-a-generation plan to repair or replace Rhode Island's public school buildings that provides enhanced state funding for public school districts. As co-chair of the Rhode Island School Building Task Force, Treasurer Magaziner led the development of the statewide school construction program that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018.

The Fiscal Year 2023 Budget passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly contains $300 million of funding to extend the statewide school construction program, including a $250 million bond proposal for voters to consider on the 2022 ballot.  

“This year, more Rhode Island students have been able to attend schools that are safe, warm, dry, and equipped for 21st-century learning than ever before,” said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. “Despite this progress, this work is far from over. Thankfully, Rhode Islanders understand that investing in our schools and our students is how we build a strong economy for the future, and I encourage voters across the state to continue this historic progress by approving a $250 million school construction bond on Tuesday, November 8.” 

Treasurer Magaziner’s statewide school construction program has allocated more than $2.2 billion in funding to date to repair or replace over 200 school buildings across 31 districts in Rhode Island. These schools serve nearly 100,000 students annually and the projects to repair or replace the schools have created more than 36,000 jobs. 

School construction projects substantially completed in recent months for the opening of the 2022/23 school year include, but are not limited to:  

• Cranston High School West – renovation of the existing main entrance to create secure entry to the school building and replace the fire suppression and fire alarm systems throughout the main high school building, gymnasium, and auditorium totaling $3.5 million. 
• Cranston High School East – replacement of windows and partially replace the school’s existing roof totaling $621,083.  
• Hugh B. Bain Middle School (Cranston) – two gymnasium buildings at the Cranston school received a $25,964 upgrade of their existing wood sports floors.  
• Pell Elementary School (Newport) – the Newport school received a new, $8.4 million, eight-classroom addition.  
• Henry J. Winters School and Elizabeth Baldwin Elementary School (Pawtucket) – new construction of two state-of-the-art elementary schools in Pawtucket totaling $234 million.  

School construction projects expected to be substantially completed for the 2023/24 school year include, but are not limited to: 

• Garden City Elementary School (Cranston) – new construction of a $53 million, 89,000 square foot school that will serve more than 575 students annually upon completion in 2023. The school will include a new secure entry, an addition that will house learning spaces that promote greater teacher-student collaboration. 
• Western Hills Middle School (Cranston) – $859,395 was invested to replace 48 ventilators to provide students and teachers with fresh, clean, and appropriately tempered ventilation air. 
• Narducci Learning Center (Providence) – $31 million renovation of the Windmill Elementary School in Providence including upgrades that will make the building ADA accessible. Upon its completion, the Narducci Learning Center will provide the Providence Public School Department with the necessary “swing space” that will be vital to the execution of other school construction projects.  
• Hope High School (Providence) – a $13.5 million renovation of the auditorium will transform the facility into a state-of-the-art Performing Arts House. Upgrades will also be made to the lobby, cupola, and a new fire protection system will be installed. 
• D’Abate Elementary School (Providence) – $21 million renovation of the existing two-story school building and construction of three new additions at the Providence school.  
• Frank D. Spaziano Elementary School (Providence) – new construction of a $44 million, three-story, 76,000-square foot school building with the capacity for 684 pre-kindergarten through 5th-grade students. 

School construction projects expected to be substantially completed for the 2024/25 school year include, but are not limited to: 

• Eden Park Elementary School (Cranston) – $24.5 million renovation includes ADA accessibility upgrades, a new gymnasium, a new library, and expanded learning spaces.  
• Classical High School (Providence) – $34 million renovation will include a new media center, renovations to classrooms and administrative spaces as well as improvements to the school’s exterior envelope.  

School construction projects expected to be substantially completed for the 2025/26 school year include, but are not limited to:

• Gladstone Elementary School (Cranston) – The new, approximately 105,000 square feet school will be designed for the enrollment of 798 kindergarten through 5th-grade students. The school will include a new secure entry, an addition that will house learning spaces, and an expanded gymnasium and cafeteria.  
• William S. Rogers High School (Newport) – The new $98 million, 180,000 square-foot school in Newport will serve approximately 755 students annually and replace the old Rogers High School, which was built in 1957 and its condition made it the worst-rated high school in the 2017 statewide assessment of all 306 public school buildings in Rhode Island.  
• Johnston Elementary School and Johnston High School – 86% of Johnston voters approved a $215 million proposal in April 2022 to finance the most extensive modernization of education facilities in the town’s history. School construction projects include the closure and consolidation of four elementary schools into one new state-of-the-art school with a new gymnasium, media center, and science and technology labs to support art, music, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education. Major renovations will be made to Johnston High School, a new early childhood center will be constructed and new and expanded career and technical training programming will be made available for high school students.

General Treasurer Seth Magaziner today celebrated the extension of the school construction program developed by the Task Force he co-chaired in 2017. The Fiscal Year 2023 Budget passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly and signed today by Governor Dan McKee includes $300 million of funding for the statewide school construction program, including a $250 million bond proposal for voters to consider on the 2022 ballot.  

As co-chair of the Rhode Island School Building Task Force, Treasurer Magaziner led the development of a once-in-a-generation plan to repair or replace Rhode Island's public school buildings that provides enhanced state funding for public school districts. The Fiscal Year 2023 Budget ensures that school districts will continue to be able to apply for enhanced state funding through 2023.  

“All students deserve to attend schools that are safe, warm, dry, and equipped for 21st-century learning,” said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. “I thank the members of the General Assembly for continuing this historic investment in Rhode Island’s students and school buildings. Rhode Islanders understand that investing in our schools and in our students is how we build a strong economy for the future, and I look forward to when voters across the state will approve this measure on Tuesday, November 8.”  

Treasurer Magaziner’s statewide school construction program was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 and has since allocated more than $2.2 billion in funding to repair or replace over 200 school buildings across 31 districts in Rhode Island. These schools serve nearly 100,000 students annually and the projects to repair or replace the schools have created more than 36,000 jobs.  

Examples of school construction projects recently completed, currently, or soon to be underway include: 

Cranston voters overwhelmingly supported a 2020 proposal to rebuild two schools, Garden City and Gladstone Elementary Schools, and to launch major renovations at Park View Middle School, Eden Park Elementary School, and Cranston High West, benefiting over 9,400 students annually.  

Smithfield renovated and expanded all three of its elementary schools, adding pre-K classrooms to the Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School, and updating the cafeteria at Pleasant View, while also adding a new music room, media center, and gym.  

Narragansett will upgrade Narragansett Elementary and Middle Schools as well as modernize and expand Narragansett High School. North Kingstown voters overwhelmingly approved a $13.5 million proposal in 2018 that includes renovations to Davisville Middle School, several elementary schools, and sports facilities that complement the new, state-of-the-art North Kingstown High School that serves as a model for surrounding communities.

Newport recently broke ground on a new 164,567 square-foot facility to replace Rogers High School, which was built in 1957 and its condition made it the worst-rated high school in the 2017 statewide assessment of all 306 public school buildings in Rhode Island.  

86% of Johnston voters approved a $215 million proposal in April 2022 to finance the largest modernization of education facilities in the town’s history. School construction projects include the closure and consolidation of four elementary schools into one new state-of-the-art school with a new gymnasium, media center, and science and technology labs to support art, music, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education, major renovations to the Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School and Johnston High School, in addition to a new early childhood center and new and expanded career as well as technical training programming for high school students.

Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner today announced that the Rhode Island Pension Fund outperformed 98% of public pension plans over the last year and during the first quarter of 2022, continuing the consistent outperformance the Rhode Island plan has achieved under Treasurer Magaziner’s ‘Back to Basics’ Investment Plan.   

According to the InvMetrics Public DB Database, which tracks the performance of 591 public pension plans, Rhode Island’s performance as of March 31, 2022 was ahead of 98% of the funds in the database for the first quarter of 2022, the fiscal year to date, as well as the trailing 12-month period.  

“My mission as Treasurer is to support economic opportunity and financial stability in Rhode Island by strengthening the pension fund that thousands of Rhode Islanders and their families rely on for retirement security,” said Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. “Under our ‘Back-to-Basics' Investment strategy, the pension fund’s investment performance has been historically strong, and the plan has reached new all-time highs while consistently outperforming our peers.”  

Over the twelve months ending March 31, the Rhode Island pension plan achieved a return of 12.2%, significantly ahead of the median public pension plan return of 4.9% as well as a traditional 60% stock / 40% bond portfolio return of 2.7%.  

During the fiscal year to date, the Plan achieved a return of 5.0% compared to the median public pension plan return of -0.6% and a 60% stock / 40% bond portfolio return of -2.3%.   

Rhode Island has achieved strong performance relative to other pension funds since Treasurer Magaziner launched the ‘Back to Basics’ investment strategy in 2017. According to InvMetrics, Rhode Island has outperformed most public pension funds in three of the last four full fiscal years.  

Additional information about the Rhode Island pension system, including the ‘Back to Basics’ investment strategy and performance, can be found online as part of Treasurer Magaziner's “Transparent Treasury” initiative at investments.treasury.ri.gov.  

All performance is reported on a “net of fees” basis.