What's another
$1,800,000 to the MCPS Capital Budget?
Nothing.
And so, on Tuesday, December 10th the Board of Education (BOE) will
vote to add another $1.8 million to the cost of constructing the new Clarksburg elementary school.
No worries for the project. The contractor has
already done this work. That's the way we work in MCPS land. Do the work first, bill the BOE later. No discussion needed by the elected BOE, this item is on the
CONSENT AGENDA for the Tuesday meeting.
But, somehow the BOE can't find the dollars to fix those pesky mold problems at numerous schools.
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Who cares when it isn't your money? They still don't have an actual budget for Farquhar Middle School.
ReplyDeleteThey have out of date "place holders" they utilized to justify their plans to the Board of Education, but no actual "budget".
I'm sure we'll know what the school actually cost two quarters after it has been completed. By then, it won't matter.
There have been very experienced professionals from the private side in the meetings and they have called the "place holder" into question at each of those meetings, but still no "budget". Yet, there are new retaining walls, new sidewalks and other new features added each time.
Time to audit MCPS and their budget practices.
It is the elected Board of Education that is completely responsible for this. There is no 'they.' There are only the voters. Almost every one of the board members is an incumbent. The members of the Ed Committee at the Council are also ex-BOE members, Councilmember Ervin and Council President Navarro. Elected. That is the word of the day.
ReplyDeleteBOE members don't have any control over construction change orders occurring. The dept. of construction does as does the manager for the site. They can vote to disapprove them but why are they happening? What incentive does the builder have for staying within budget? Any? What are the sanctions for blowing it?
DeleteThese are public meetings. Anyone willing to volunteer and sit in on these meetings and tape them? PC will be happy to put the video up on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this is the last change order for this project..
ReplyDeleteThey're only 50% over the budget for 2(a) - Site Work.. Which is Step 1 of the process..
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/construction/bids/PDF/CCESNewBidResults.pdf
Do we know if the unsuitable soils had an impact on the geothermal design?