District funding under fire

Broward Schools’ roofing estimates of $800M might have been inaccurate

Broward Schools used what may have been bogus roofing estimates in 2014 when they sold the public on an $800 million bond referendum to repair aging schools.

Roofing costs are now three times the original estimates, and $280 million more is needed from the district’s reserves, Frank Girardi, who was recently assigned to oversee the bond program, told the School Board during a workshop Tuesday.

He said the original 2014 estimates weren’t even close to being accurate at the time.

It’s the latest in a series of problems for the bond program, which has been plagued by long delays and skyrocketing costs. Few major renovations have been completed, and construction has yet to even start for many of them. District officials have pushed back the expected completion date of the program from 2021 to 2023.

About 30 percent of the bond dollars were allocated to fix roofs. A consultant and district facilities officials estimated costs in 2014 at $6.80 per square foot. But that was well below the average cost of $12.98 for roofs that had actually been built in the district during the 2007-08 school year, the height of the recession. Today, the average cost is $19 per square foot, officials said.

District administrators were reluctant to assign blame to anyone currently working for the district. They blamed Jacobs project

management, a construction consultant company the district used in 2014 to help come up with estimates, as well as former employees.

“We had our staff involved at the time. Who looked at [the roofing estimates] to ensure the figures even made sense? Board member Laurie Rich Levinson asked.

“I can’t answer that,” Girardi said.” I may be able to find out who was doing that position. I can only talk about what we’re doing forward.”

Levinson asked Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie whether anyone was being held accountable. She some people involved may still be working for the district.

Runcie said he will “go back and look at what structure we had in place,” adding that top administrators such as himself “would have no real background to question the price estimates.”

Levinson said she didn’t believe there was any criminal activity involved with the faulty estimates. However, board member Robin Bartleman said roofing problems were part of three grand jury reports, the latest in 2011, that found widespread mismanagement and corruption in the district.

Bartleman also asked why Facilities Chief Leo Bobadilla,

“Regardless whether estimates were accurate or whether they were off, the amount of roofs we have to do is the amount of roofs we have to do. This doesn’t change that.”

Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie

who started with the district in late 2015, never told the board about false estimates. Runcie recently removed Bobadilla from the bond program, although the facilities chief is still keeping his title and $196,000 salary. Bobadilla couldn’t be reached for comment.

Bartleman asked whether the district could hold the Texas-based Jacobs accountable. Runcie said he checked with the legal department after similar concerns were raised a couple of years ago and found out it was difficult because they were working alongside district staff. A Jacobs spokeswoman said Tuesday afternoon she was not able to provide immediate comment.

“Regardless whether estimates were accurate or whether they were off, the amount of roofs we have to do is the amount of roofs we have to do. This doesn’t change that,” Runcie said.

Girardi also updated the district on the timeline of projects. He said most schools should be completed by 2022, a year and a half behind schedule, but he said a few could linger on to 2023.

He also confirmed the district won’t meet its plan to finish single points of entry — gates and fences used to restrict visitor access to schools — in the next few months as planned.

Runcie said shortly after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas that the district planned to finish projects by the end of 2018 but later extended that to early 2019. Runcie said last month that it would be June 2019, but Girardi said Tuesday that seven are now expected to be completed by September 2019 with one final project finished in 2020. District officials wouldn’t identify specific schools, citing security concerns.