New schools struggle with malfunctions

Mildewed walls and faltering air conditioning have the School Board looking at its construction process.

By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 25, 2001

TAMPA -- It looks like most other newer schools in Hillsborough County, with its creamy stucco walls and square modern design.

But take a closer look and you'll see what's causing a stir inside and outside of 6-year-old Durant High School.

Mildewed walls and air vents. Water leaks. Chipping stucco. Air conditioning malfunctions.

"These problems are real," school administrator Doug Erwin told School Board members last week, handing them photos of rusted ceiling tiles and mildewed exterior walls.

Erwin told the board of ongoing maintenance problems since the $37-million school in eastern Hillsborough opened in 1995.

The problems at Durant, he said, are indicative of widespread shoddy construction throughout the district. The 340,000-square-foot school, he claimed, illustrates a pattern of wasted taxpayer dollars at new schools such as Bloomingdale, Wharton and Sickles high schools and Oak Park, Walden Lake and Mintz elementary schools.

Schools are built and soon thereafter, Erwin said, his maintenance employees are called out to fix leaks, wiring and paint -- work for which the original construction companies should instead be held accountable. And with 27 new schools being built over the next five years, Erwin exhorted the board to scrutinize how it builds schools.

"The issues that I have with Durant . . . are the same or very similar to those that I have about many of our schools," he said.

In January, School Board members plan to take a more in-depth look at school construction.

They questioned recently whether they are saving money on the front end but having to pay more to maintain the schools once they're built.

"We need to re-examine many things and examine them with the intent of fixing what is broken," said board chairwoman Doris Ross Reddick.

Board member Carolyn Bricklemyer said she wonders if the district holds contractors accountable for their work.

"Maybe we even need to go school by school," she said. "Which ones have done well? Which ones haven't? To me, it would be a very good management practice."

Erwin blew the whistle on employee wrongdoing and potential vendor fraud in two maintenance departments under his supervision. His accusations led to internal investigations that recently showed $560,000 was potentially misused.

Both the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating. But despite Erwin's request for the impaneling of a grand jury, State Attorney Mark Ober told school officials that he was leaving the investigation to state authorities.

Also, on Wednesday, the state Comptroller's Division of Financial Investigations requested copies of district audits of the grounds department.

The issue of habitual problems with new construction is the latest wrinkle in the widespread controversy surrounding the school district.

Director of construction Thomas Blackwell said there have been some maintenance problems at some new schools, including Durant, but denied allegations of contractor favoritism and wasted tax dollars.

"We have not had extraordinary problems," he said. "We've had ordinary problems."

The quality of schools has improved since the district stopped taking sealed bids for new schools beginning with the construction of Blake High School in 1997, he said. He said districts like Hillsborough found construction companies were cutting corners to increase their profit margins under the bidding process.

Now, construction managers are chosen by a team of school officials based on their qualifications.

Still, Blackwell said it is impossible to compare the construction of a school to a car, saying problems are inherent to the business.

"We have yet to build the perfect building," he said.

That said, Durant media specialist Carol Schaefer said board members need to delve into whether they're getting their money's worth out of new schools.

She recalled how water leaked from the roof and ruined books soon after the school opened, how water filled the auditorium after a rain and how condensation ran from the air conditioning system.

"If I were in the position the School Board is in, I wouldn't sign off on payment to these companies unless they sign off on the problems they create," she said. "It's about good business the way I look at it."

- Staff writer Melanie Ave can be reached at 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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