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Schools

Tip led to discovery of 'biggest disaster'

THE STORY SO FAR, AT A GLANCE

By Times Staff Writer
Published May 8, 2005

APRIL 2004: Anonymous tipster delivers construction photos to an Inverness newspaper box and instructs Citrus Times editor Jim Ross where to find them.

MAY 9: Structural engineer Jimmy D. Schilling of Satellite Beach states in a Citrus Times article that the photos show potentially serious construction defects in the cafeteria and media center nearly completed at Homosassa Elementary. Schilling offers to examine the buildings for free, but the school superintendent declined his offer.

MAY 11: After some preliminary testing of the walls in the cafeteria and media center, engineer Ted Williamson acknowledges to the School Board that some reinforcement in the walls is missing. Still, he states, "I am confident (the two new buildings) are structurally sound."

MAY 27: After examining the media center, Central Testing Laboratory reports hundreds of defects in the construction. So much of the steel and concrete reinforcement is missing that Schilling, the engineer from from Satellite Beach, suggests it might be cheaper to rebuild than repair.

MAY 29: After weeks of resistance, the school district allows Schilling to examine the Homosassa Elementary additions. He finds comparable problems in the cafeteria and suggests the district hire professionals trained in fixing defective construction, people without ties to this project or school district. Meanwhile, the project engineer, Ted Williamson, assures school officials that the additions will be ready by the time students return in August.

JUNE 8: A lineup of those involved in the Homosassa project are grilled by the School Board. But board attorney Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick says the district's contracts with them require they be allowed to fix the defects. The school district also learns from the testing consultants that the cafeteria is as defective as the media center.

JUNE 22: The State Attorney's Office and state Board of Professional Engineers open investigations.

JUNE 24: The Homosassa Civic Club sponsors a public forum.

JUNE 30: School Board member Pat Deutschman calls for a blue ribbon panel to examine what happened and to restore public trust in the school district.

JULY 12: The Homosassa Elementary project manager, Sam DiGuglielmo, retires, thus ending the district's internal investigation of his job performance.

JULY 21: Homosassa Elementary notifies parents the school will not be ready for students on Aug. 9. Students instead will attend classes at Crystal River Primary School and Crystal River Middle School.

AUG. 10: The State Attorney's Office says no crime has been committed in the construction case.

AUG. 19: School district's internal investigation clears employees of wrongdoing.

OCT. 11: Students return to Homosassa Elementary, where they occupy the renovated older portions of the campus. Repair work on the new buildings continues.

OCT. 28: Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Donald Macdonald, who is an engineer, tours the botched buildings and declares them the "biggest disaster" he has ever seen in his professional career.

NOVEMBER: Engineer Ted Williamson notifies R.E. Graham that the district's costs associated with fixing the construction problems nearly equal the amount still owed Graham on the project. Consequently, Graham will get no more money to finish the repairs.

DEC. 17: Blue Ribbon Committee member Alan McLaughlin reveals that, although there was plenty of rebar bought to complete the Homosassa project, much of it was not delivered directly to the school but rather to builder R.E. Graham's business, known as "the farm," in Sumter County.

FEB. 3, 2005: School Board members tour the repaired cafeteria and find little work taking place at the nearby media center.

MARCH 8: The report of the Blue Ribbon Committee details changes needed in the district's procedures and chides the district for its failures. The committee says if other district buildings were better constructed, it was due to luck, not district oversight.

MARCH 21: School officials learn that, among the workers on the Homosassa construction project was mason's helper John Couey, the man accused of killing Homosassa third-grader Jessica Lunsford.

MARCH 29: State Department of Education report delivered to the district outlining numerous changes needed in the district and the facilities and construction department to improve checks and balances in the district.

APRIL 12: School Board approves new rules that would bar sexual offenders and predators from school construction sites.

APRIL 26: An Orlando vendor who provided steel roof beams and structures files a lawsuit against Graham, claiming to be owed $97,258.

MAY 1: Officials from Lexington Homes announce they will donate a playground to Homosassa Elementary in honor of Jessica Lunsford.

[Last modified May 8, 2005, 00:45:19]