Schools

Shoddy school suit settled

The Citrus School District gets $251,000 for construction flaws at a Homosassa school.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published August 15, 2007

INVERNESS - The Citrus County School Board has settled the last of its legal battles with a builder whose work raised concerns that parts of Homosassa Elementary School could collapse on children.

The board on Tuesday accepted a $251,000 settlement with Atlantic Mutual Insurance, the company that bonded builder R.E. Graham Contracting Inc. of Lake Panasoffkee.

The board had already held back $600,000 in payments from Graham. The $251,000 covers the district's extra costs, such as transporting students to other schools while repairs were being done.

Graham's company absorbed all of the added costs of repairing the structural deficiencies.

"It's nice that it's all behind us now," said School Board member Pat Deutschman.

In April 2004, a tipster delivered photos taken of the work being done on the school's new media center and cafeteria to the St. Petersburg Times. They showed egregious construction flaws, such as concrete block walls that were missing metal reinforcing rods.

The Times contacted engineer Jimmy D. Schilling of Satellite Beach, whose examination of the work site and the building plans showed numerous other construction and design problems.

After several newspaper stories about Schilling's findings and other concerns, the School Board hired a testing firm, which confirmed the problems and found even more.

Workers had not only failed to install the reinforcing rods in the walls, they also left out the concrete grout needed to help the walls support the weight of the roof. Some walls were not even connected to the roof.

Parents and community leaders in this small coastal fishing community were furious at the school district for lax oversight. They worried that a strong storm off the gulf would collapse the weak walls.

In a controversial move, the School Board ordered Graham to repair the buildings rather than hire a new contractor. For months, the financially strapped builder struggled to keep crews on the site; eventually, Graham and the workers disappeared altogether. The district completed the repairs itself.

Criminal charges were never filed over the debacle, although the project manager for the school district took a hurried retirement. The district found none of its employees to be at fault, while a review by a citizens committee led the district to revamp the way it handles construction projects.

Technically, the district did not sue Graham but the company that bonded his work, Atlantic Mutual, in April 2006. Graham already faces numerous other suits from subcontractors and suppliers who have not been paid.

"The best worst thing that ever happened to us," is how Deutschman described the construction nightmare's impact on the district.

"The whole school system itself is better for it. We've improved our systems. We've improved our oversight," she said. "We're all much more attuned to keep an eye on things."

A related case concluded last week when the probable cause panel of the Florida Board of Professional Engineers dismissed a negligence charge against the project engineer on the Homosassa site.

Schilling filed the charge against Theodore "Ted" Williamson of Williamson Dacar Associates Inc. of Safety Harbor after his review of the site and Williamson's drawings.

In a "letter of guidance" to the engineer, the board chided Williamson, saying "the subject's work is a clear example of poor and missing detailing, which contributed to the construction deficiencies and coordination issues. The panel strongly advises the subject to improve the quality of his structural detailing product and to maintain a higher standard of structural engineering work."

Williamson brushed aside the criticism. "I could probably go to any set of drawings and find something that could have been done better."

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at (352) 848-1434 or behrendt@sptimes.com. 

[Last modified August 15, 2007, 06:46:04]