Schools upgrade timeline in doubt

Broward voters OK’d $800M plan with a 2021 deadline

It’s time for the Broward school district to tell taxpayers exactly how it plans to fix decaying schools by 2021 or admit it can’t be done on time, warns a new report from the watchdog hired to monitor the work’s progress.

The report from Florida TaxWatch, a Tallahassee group hired by the district, found that about 10 percent of the more than 1,500 projects at 232 schools have been completed and only 12 percent are under construction.

Most of Broward’s plans are getting stuck in the planning or design phase and the projects aren’t making it to construction, TaxWatch wrote.

The report said district officials should have “candid conversations” with their Bond Oversight Committee about whether they honestly believe they can finish the work by 2021, the deadline promised when voters in 2014 passed the $800 million bond referendum.

“If there are things that can be reasonably and realistically done to break that logjam and get projects moving, then the Bond Oversight Committee needs to know that,” said Bob Nave, vice president of research for TaxWatch. “If there’s no reasonable expectation that the logjam can be broken, the oversight committee needs to know that as well.”

District officials say they’re confident the work will get done on time, although they’ve not said what major changes they will make to speed up the work.

School Board members told Superintendent Robert Runcie they weren’t getting clear answers about why there were so many problems. TaxWatch “has put us on notice that there is a problem,” School Board member Robin Bartleman said.

Board member Heather Brinkworth said, “We are desperately behind and we need to know why.”

Runcie vowed to work with staff to provide answers.

“I share the frustration,” Runcie said. “When we enter a public forum, we’ve got to acknowledge the problem, have answers and explain how we’re going to move forward. I haven’t heard enough of that.”

As the community waits, students, teachers and parents continue to complain about mold, leaky roofs, failing air conditioners. While the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High has raised alarms about schools’ safety, dozens of safety projects to install fences and gates to restrict access at schools remain stalled.

”I think we’re only beginning to hear the horror stories that we’re going to hear about the bond issue, what gets built and doesn’t get built and how long it will take,” said Skeet Jernigan, president of the Community and Economic Development Council, which represents developers.

The district is having a hard time finding enough builders to bid on projects, as the area undergoes a real estate boom and Palm Beach County plans major renovations for its schools.

Bruce Bernard, a contractor who sits on the oversight committee, doubts the district can make its deadline. He reviewed data from a recent district report and found that the district had completed 197 out of the 1,500 projects planned at 230 schools. Most were minor projects, such as installing weight rooms or resurfacing tracks.

From March 2017 to March 2018, the district had finished 87 projects. He said the district could triple its progress over the next three years and still be nowhere close to completing everything by 2021.

“There needs to be a major change or the dates aren’t going to hit,” he said.

Other builders are also “very doubtful” the district can complete the work anytime soon, said Carol Bowen, vice president of Associated Builders and Contractors Florida East Coast chapter.

“We don’t want them suddenly to rush and speed through everything. That’s never the solution,” Bowen said. “If we’re honest, these projects should be well underway by this point.”

The school district sees it differently. It has acknowledged it started its construction work late and the program will cost more than first expected. But it insists all projects will be completed in the next few years.

“Our commitment was to get everything started within five years and completed within seven years, and we are on track with this commitment,” district spokeswoman Cathleen Brennan said.

One problem, the district said, is that it unsuccessfully tried to speed up the permitting process, but those efforts created more delays because plans had to be submitted multiple times.

While architects are given deadlines to meet, the district has no way to enforce them, said Rob Corbin, a consultant with CBRE Heery, a company the district hired to manage the bond projects.

School Board member Donna Korn, who works in commercial real estate, said the normal time for an architect to work on plans is about eight weeks, including any revisions that need to be made. But some district projects have been getting stuck with architects for months, or even a year or more.

“Anyone who has experience in construction knows that’s an egregious amount of time,” Korn told district staff at a meeting June 19.