FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Hundreds of Broward County public school buildings are in desperate need of new roofs.
Voters approved the money for the repairs years ago, so taxpayers want to know why the repairs are nowhere close to being complete.
“We have schools that people are sick in because the roofs aren’t done. The air conditioning components aren’t done,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said.
So, what is taking so long?
A lot of answers to that question were brought up at Tuesday’s school board workshop, but not as many solutions.
“Right now, we have five to six firms that have the experience working with Broward County schools on their roofing program,” SMART project manager Dan Jardine said.
That means only five or six construction companies are trying to complete 17 million square feet of roofing. That’s 308 football fields worth of roof repairs and replacements.
“Sitting on the facilities task force for more than eight years, there’s a lot that’s gone sideways here,” Dr. Nathalie Walsh said.
During the public comment portion of the workshop, the ordeal was called a bad process with failed planning.
Area contractors chimed in to say they’d be happy to take on part of the project but said their companies were rejected in what they call a convoluted application process that is constantly shifting.
Contractors active in the projects said they aren’t getting paid in a timely fashion.
“Somebody has to take responsibility for that and find a way to fix that because, again, people are not going to come work for us,” Broward County school board member Robin Bartleman said.
Taxpayers questioned why some school construction projects are fast tracked and quickly completed, but the roofing, part of the what’s called SMART program renovations, doesn’t seem to be handled in a way that’s, well, smart. Superintendent Robert Runcie said he hopes to resolve the delays as quickly as possible, but quick solutions may not equate to fast construction.
“We’re not going to meet this 2023 deadline,” one woman said.