Four years after Carroll County raised taxes to pay for an ambitious school construction program, four of the first five projects are over budget by more than $2 million. Two did not open on time.
A fifth school, which was completed on time and under budget, had a dangerous water-heater problem that was discovered in January.
The problems in the $106 million construction program, which is supposed to meet the needs of Carroll's rapidly growing population, have county and state officials trying to figure out what went wrong: Westminster's Cranberry Station Elementary School, expected to be completed in August, is $1.7 million over budget and a year behind schedule. Many of the problems are tied to a costly break with the original contractor, who has sued the school board. A state panel is reviewing the overruns.
Elmer Wolfe Elementary in Union Bridge opened last year on time, but with $376,000 in overruns. School officials blame the additional expenses on the unexpected construction of a 15,000-gallon water tank and rock removal at the site.
Oklahoma Road Middle School in Eldersburg was completed in January 1997 with an overrun of about $9,000. It opened six months after its original deadline because of construction delays.
School system officials revealed last week that the $16 million renovation of an addition to Francis Scott Key High School outside Union Bridge is also over budget. The officials have not said how large the overrun will be, but much of it is tied to problems in finding a discharge point for an $800,000 wastewater treatment plant. The plant was built illegally without state environmental and construction permits.
The school system faces state penalties and might be forced to dismantle the facility at taxpayers' expense if a lawsuit challenging the plant construction is successful.
In four years, the school system's only financial success story is Linton Springs Elementary School in Eldersburg. It opened last year $250,000 under budget, money that has been spent to cover other schools' overruns.
But state inspectors discovered later that the school had dangerous defects in the water-heating system. The defects have since been repaired.
School officials failed to submit proper construction documents to the system's insurance company for an engineering review, which might have warned of the problem.
More schools planned
More schools are planned or under way: a $29 million high school in South Carroll and $14 million middle schools in Hampstead and Westminster. A second high school for Westminster is under consideration.
Some school board members have called for an investigation into construction problems.
"To me, it's something we need to get some answers to and provide some answers to the citizens of Carroll County," said school board member Susan Krebs.
"I hope we hold people accountable for these actions and decisions," Krebs said. "We need to be accountable for our actions. We need to hold staff accountable just as in the business world."
Fellow board member Joseph D. Mish Jr. also called for a review of the department. Mish said the department's decision to build the wastewater treatment plant at Francis Scott Key High without permits was "inexcusable."
"I will look at why necessary permits were not issued and what effect it had," he said. "It's too late to worry about what happened, but we can prevent problems in the future.
"The board wants to make sure that the public is getting the best value for the dollar."
That was the promise made to taxpayers in 1995, when the commissioners raised the piggyback tax from 50 percent to 58 percent for six years to generate money to build schools. Two years later, the commissioners reduced the rate to 55 percent, but extended the the tax for 20 years to build schools.
The commissioners and school board will have a closed meeting tomorrow to discuss the construction problems.
Vernon Smith, who was in charge of school construction before being promoted to assistant superintendent of administration last year, blamed the trouble on unforeseen problems and costs such as rock removal, utility fees and volatile market conditions.
Smith also took responsibility for some of the problems. He said building the wastewater treatment plant at Francis Scott Key High without the required permits was his decision.
"I will take full responsibility for the decision to move forward," he said, adding that in making that decision he thought the construction project would not face opposition.
"In all honesty, we were in a situation in which we anticipated no problem with the acquisition of the permits," he said.
However, the project was strongly opposed by neighbors who argued that releasing effluent from the plant into a nearby stream might cause environmental problems.
Smith said other branches of government might be better suited to handle complicated construction of wastewater treatment plants, which caused so much trouble at Francis Scott Key High.
"We were responsible for designing and constructing the wastewater treatment plant," he said. "In all honesty, that certainly might be better accomplished by another government entity, but the county wanted us to do it."
Because of the problems, some county officials have suggested they should have more oversight of school projects.
County Commissioner Donald I. Dell said some problems clearly exist with school construction, but he said he needs to explore the causes. Some might have been unavoidable, he said.
Some construction problems were identified in 1997, when an independent performance audit found flaws in the school construction department.
Audit finds problems
The staff lacked proper information on the details, budgets and deadlines for construction projects, the audit found.
The departmental supervisor often did not inform construction assistants, who oversee individual projects, of changes to construction plans, according to the audit.
"This creates the appearance of disorganization for the Department and leads to potential embarrassing and avoidable confrontations between a project construction assistant and the Contractor," the report said.
Financial status reports for school construction projects were misleading and not widely distributed, the audit said.
The audit also found that while the workload for the department had increased significantly over 10 years, the number of staff members had stayed the same. The strain on staff resulted in increased work hours, tight project schedules, incomplete drawings and the potential for errors and delays, according to the audit.
Some employees lacked a full understanding of the technical aspects of their jobs, including basic computer skills, the report said.
The department's office space was found to be disorganized and small. "Paper is everywhere, files are not maintained effectively," the audit said. " Project documents are kept in boxes stacked in the hallway."
Smith agreed with the findings, but said many of the problems have been solved. The school system has hired a construction supervisor with managerial experience, moved the department to more spacious quarters and started using construction managers on projects instead of general contractors.
Construction managers oversee building projects and advise the school board on hiring subcontractors, who do most of the work. They have been popular in other counties across the state, including Howard, Harford, Montgomery, Frederick and Baltimore.
"This report verifies that they don't have adequate people in the facilities department," said Bernard C. Schisler, who served in 1997 on a school construction panel that made funding recommendations. "I assume the five members of the school board reviewed the report, and I hope they took steps to correct everything mentioned in the report. It appears to me that some corrections were not made because we have problems ongoing. We should look into why this is happening."
Pub Date: 3/21/99