...One problem with the FACT scores was it took more than a year to complete the facility assessments for all schools. The contractor Facility Engineering Associates (FEA), PC, which is in Fairfax, completed the assessments of all 206 schools within one year, as MCPS requested in the RFP. The Board of Education approved awarding FEA with a contract of $1,289,873 on June 12, 2018.
Another problem was that MCPS did not reassess and update the FACT scores for the facilities as they aged over time. As opposed to the assessments of the FACT score, according to the RFP, MCPS now wants the buildings to be assessed routinely over time.
On the KFI page on the MCPS website, schools are listed in alphabetical order, followed by a series of red, yellow and green circles, each assigned to a category the contractor assessed.
The learning centers and holding facilities together had the largest percentage of buildings with a poor rating for overall condition. “Green” means a part may need maintenance or repair, but not right now. “Yellow” means several parts of the item assessed may need to be repaired or replaced in the future. “Red” means the component may need “major repair, rehabilitation or replacement to the component-section as a whole,” in the future.
The learning centers used for alternative education, such as Northlake Center and Fairland Center, had more red dots for overall condition than elementary schools, middle schools or high schools...
