Broward school bond repairs proving to be slow and costly

Costs are skyrocketing for the Broward County school district’s promised school bond repairs, and there’s little finished work to show for it.

So far, it appears taxpayers could be stuck paying $250 million more than expected, and at least two district committees are trying to understand why.

Voters approved the $800 million bond in November 2014 to replace failing air conditioners, roofs and other problems at aging schools. The district is also using other district sources for an overall $1 billion program.

In addition to building upgrades, the program includes adding new computers to schools, which have been rolled out successfully and ahead of schedule.

But facility upgrades have been slow, with construction contracts awarded to less than 1 percent of the 1,400 projects in the fiveyear program, according to district reports.

Students and employees at the schools continue to endure leaky roofs, erratic air conditioners, flooding and other problems while they wait for renovations.

District officials say 19 bond projects have been completed so far, including the resurfacing of tracks at six schools, and a few small air conditioning and roofing projects.

The price tag for remaining projects could be a lot higher than expected. Consultants from Atkins, a company hired to manage the bond finances, said costs could rise anywhere from $80 million to $432 million due to inflation and possible changes to the work needed.

Right now, they’re encouraging the district to plan for about a $250 million increase.

“That’s a lot of money. That’s my money. That’s the county’s money,” said Eric Garner, a parent from Pembroke Pines who sits on the Facilities Task Force. “Every day we wait is another day of inflation, another day that my kids and the kids of this county get less.”

The Facilities Task Force and the district’s Bond Oversight Committee, both of which are tasked as watchdogs, grilled district officials about the bond at recent meetings.

A report prepared by Atkins in January says that renovations at Nova High in Davie and Robert Markham Elementary in Pompano Beach could double while costs at William Dandy Middle in Fort Lauderdale could triple.

But Atkins officials told the district’s Facilities Task Force that these are worstcase scenarios.

The two committees have both questioned how district officials could have been so off when they assessed schools in 2014 prior to the bond passing.

“When they went out the first time, why didn’t they do a proper inspection?” asked Maxine Lewers, president of the Broward County PTA and a member of the Bond Oversight Committee.

Shelley Meloni, who oversees pre-construction efforts for the district, said the 2014 assessments were conducted by high-level administrators. “They were not detailed, thorough investigations of the conditions at the schools,” Meloni said.

Few projects are far enough along to know the final costs, but one project, roof and building improvements at Attucks Middle in Hollywood, has come in 58 percent over budget at $498,125. District officials said the job turned out to be more complex and expensive than they first thought.

“We only have 1 percent of total projects done, and this was over a 50 percent increase? Are we going to have the same issue for the other projects that don’t have a good assessment up front?” asked Bruce Bernard, a manager for a construction company and a member of the Bond Oversight Committee.

Omar Shim, who handles the capital budget for the district, said the district can’t guarantee the estimates made in 2014 will be accurate for the five-year bond program.

“It’s like asking if it’s going to rain at this time in five years,” he said. “It’s very difficult to project, but you’ll know better as you get closer.”

Shim said $300 million has not been allocated to any specific project, and can be used to offset project costs.

Members of the two committees said they feared that the district could end up scrapping projects in the later years if money runs out.

But Shim said the district is committed to completing those projects, even if it requires the districts to use other resources than those currently in the bond budget.